


Puppeteer

by Random_Inked_Thoughts



Series: Puppeteer-verse [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Slow Burn, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 80,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24801205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Inked_Thoughts/pseuds/Random_Inked_Thoughts
Summary: There are a couple of life experiences that you can't get through without bonding with others. Being kidnapped just happens to be one of them. Discovering that you share certain enhanced abilities with your fellow kidnappees- that's another.Logan would argue that it's hardly kidnapping, he's just helping to forcibly move them to a second location. No, never mind, that's definitely kidnapping.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Series: Puppeteer-verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950484
Comments: 396
Kudos: 243





	1. Patton

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!! Thanks for clicking on this fic even with my cruddy summary! :)
> 
> Puppeteer is going to be taking over my "main fanfiction slot" from now on as I wrap up 'Evermore,' and hoo boy if you thought /that/ was a passion project, then honey you've got a big storm coming! This thing is going to be hopefully a little heavier on the plot and a little longer than my usual shebang, not to mention with a slower burn for the romantic parts, so that'll be cool. Just a fair warning though, I'm partially writing this to improve on action scenes and the like, so there will probably be violence and... stuff. 
> 
> Without further ado, I hope you like this work and I hope you have a lovely day! <3

Patton had been an optimist his entire life, somehow. To be fair, it had nothing to do with his personal experiences and everything to do with his love for life as a concept. Patton felt that he was lucky just to exist, lucky to have found such loving and accepting parents, lucky to feel so secure and happy as himself, lucky that he could do and see everything he wanted to do and see. Patton felt lucky, nothing else to it. 

“Honey I’m home!” he called out jokingly into the open air, using his foot to help open the door to his apartment. In his hands, groceries were piled high, his spoils from his trip to the grocery store. 

The store had been out of spinach, so they would have to forego the salads that he and Virgil forced themselves to eat every few meals, just for a semblance of healthiness in their lives. 

“Pat? Is that you?” Virgil’s head poked out from around the corner. Patton was so lucky about so many things, and just knowing Virgil was one of them. The two of them had been inseparable since middle school, but the fact that they had both ended up at the same college had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with their shared love for the English language and a certain bond that could only possibly form between two boys who entrusted one another with such unique, such important secrets as they did.

“Who else would it be?” Patton said with a grin, setting the groceries down on the small table that they had set up in the middle of the tiny room. “Is anyone else around here referring to you as ‘honey’?” 

“Last time I checked it was just you,” Virgil replied, beginning to help Patton stuff as many of the groceries as he could into their minifridge. “But then again, better safe than sorry.” 

“Touche,” Patton replied. “Cutesy nicknames, that’s how they lower your guard…” 

Virgil just laughed, a deep rumbling sound that Patton had been hearing for years, yet he never failed to feel a rush of happiness upon hearing it. “Alright, you find some cheesy feel-good movie to put on, I prepare our first round of food?” 

“After last week’s disaster? Yes please,” Patton replied, smiling. 

Being around Virgil was as comforting for him as it was for Virgil. Virgil’s brain seemed to slow down a bit when Patton was around, and a sense of contentment seemed to surround him. He was familiar, and safe, and Patton had known him so long that he could sometimes predict how he felt about any situation before he actually felt the shift in Virgil’s emotions. 

Virgil gave him a grin. “I didn’t know it was physically possible to burn ramen, what with it being immersed in water and all, but you managed.” 

“Well, I am a man of many talents,” Patton replied, a bit of an inside joke between them, already squatting down in front of their little box TV and looking through the collection of DVDs below. They’d been collecting since they were both children, but they’d agreed that only the essentials should come alone to them with college. That’s why, after a mere four hours of soft bickering, they’d settled on their twenty favorites to bring along. 

“Hmm,” Patton mumbled to himself as he ran through his options. He could hear Virgil bustling around in the kitchen, humming the lyrics to some old song as he worked. “Something cheesy and feel-goodsy…” Patton said, then giggled at the word ‘feel-goodsy’. 

He settled on  _ Avengers _ , for both a comforting and fun storyline and Captain America’s ass, though he’d never admit the second one. 

He and Virgil had been watching  _ Avengers _ for years now, but what could he say? The movie held up. They’d always end up watching it somehow after bad breakups, difficult tests, kids being jerks, anything. It was a comfort movie, and one of the few that Virgil could stomach seeing more than three or four times. Movies like that were to be treasured. 

Virgil waltzed back over to their shoddy little hand me down couch and sat down next to Patton, pulling him out of his thoughts, their plates clutched in Virgil’s calloused hands. “Our main course tonight will be none other than those gourmet reheated pizza slices that were apparently still left in the back of our fridge,” he announced with a flourish, handing Patton his plate. 

Patton played along, gasping. “The very same gourmet reheated pizza slices that may or may not have been ordered a week ago?” he asked, doing his best but ultimately failing to hide the start of a grin tugging the corners of his lips up. 

Virgil nodded gravely. “Those very same slices.” They stared at one another for a moment before they both burst out laughing. “Alright, what movie did you choose?” Virgil asked him mirthfully, and Patton simply nodded at the TV, where  _ Avengers _ was all cued up and ready to go. “Nice!” 

“Well, it is a cinematic  _ marvel _ !” Patton joked, grinning at Virgil’s soft groan. “How could I  _ not _ pick it?” He took a large bite of the pizza, chewing at the slightly stringy cheese. 

“Terrible pun, Pat,” Virgil said, shaking his head as he shuffled a little bit closer to his shorter friend as he took a bite of his own slice. “ _ Terrible  _ pun.”

Patton loved these nights on their ratty old sofa, eating cheap food and watching movies that they’d both already seen too many times to count. He knew they both had homework they needed to get done, and the next morning their stomachs would probably hate them, but these nights were to be cherished. 

After all, Friday nights were one of the only nights he used to be able to have friends over. 

_ Patton was fifteen, dressed in hand me down pajamas, and sitting in his living room, practically vibrating off the walls.  _

_ “Goodness,” his mother chuckled, walking into the room and finding her son staring at the front door anxiously, knee bouncing up and down feverishly. “He’s only five minutes late, Pattycake, I’m sure he’ll be here in a moment. Maybe traffic was just rough.” She was amused, which seemed to be her default setting. Amused and fond.  _

_ “I know, I know,” Patton said, bouncing his leg a little bit faster as the corners of his lips twitched. “Sorry Mom, I’m just anxious.”  _

_ Patton could feel his mom’s ripple of pride as he said that. He looked up to see his mother trying her best to hide a grin. That always happened these days, even though he’d gotten used to calling her mom almost a year ago. “And I can tell that from all the way over here!” his mother commented. “What makes this Virgil guy so special, hmm Pattycake?”  _

_ “He’s a friend,” Patton said, distracted, looking up and meeting his mom’s growing smirk with a groan. “No, Mom, not like that. He’s just a friend, I swear.” He wasn’t just a friend, he was Patton’s closest friend, but he didn’t really think saying that would help his case. It didn’t matter, he didn’t need his mother to know it for it to be true.  _

_ “Alright, whatever you say,” his mom said with another smirk. “You two are sleeping in the living room though, you hear me? Not your room.” _

_ The doorbell dinged then, luckily saving Patton from any kind of further embarrassing gossiping. Vaulting to his feet, Patton rushed over to the door, opening it quickly and doing his best to act like his entire face hadn’t been flushed a brilliant red only moments earlier.  _

_ Virgil, complete with an overnight bag, stood on his front porch. As Patton took his friend’s image in, Virgil’s anxiety spiked through him like lightning. Virgil was clutching his bag close to his chest, eyes a little bit wide and unsure, knuckles white. Patton frowned. He didn’t really mean to read Virgil, but it wasn’t like he could help it.  _

_ “Hey,” Patton said softly to his friend as he took him in, Virgil’s anxiety still coursing underneath his skin like boiling water. He didn’t really need his empathy to figure out that Virgil was tense, but oh well. “You doing okay there, Virge?”  _

_ Virgil swallowed, nodding, shoving down whatever he was feeling. Patton resisted a small wince at that. Repression was never good in the long run. “Yeah,” he finally replied, cracking a small grin as he took in Patton in his baby blue pajamas. His mood shifted to a more positive one. “Yeah, better now.”  _

_ Patton beamed at that. “Great! Welcome to my home!” he said with a small flourish. “Come on in!”  _

_ As Virgil walked through the front door, Patton’s mom came around the corner, still grinning. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Virgil!” she exclaimed happily. “Patton’s told me so much about you.”  _

_ “Mom…” Patton grumbled, flushing a little bit, but Virgil just laughed a little bit.  _

_ “It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am, thank you for letting me stay the night.”  _

_ Oh gosh, he’s so polite.  _

_ “Please, call me Mrs. Hart,” Patton’s mother said with a small smile.  _

_ When his mother left, Virgil began to look around his living room. Patton followed his gaze, a frantic bundle of excited and nervous thoughts. Virgil’s gaze rested for an unnaturally long time on the mantle, and Patton frowned a little bit.  _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Virgil’s house was full of baby pictures. You get through the front door, there are baby pictures on the walls. You go to use the bathroom, bam, more baby pictures hanging above the toilet. Their living room practically looked like a ‘greatest hits’ from Virgil and his older sibling’s lives. Patton had even found baby pictures all over the mug of hot chocolate his mother had handed him. They were everywhere. Virgil was the youngest of four, and Patton didn’t think there had been a moment of silence in that tiny house. He positively loved it.  _

_ Patton’s house didn’t have baby pictures. They didn’t even have him when he was a baby. Patton didn’t remember his childhood, as he was a baby at the time, but he did remember the foster care system.  _

_ Baby pictures don’t make a family, Patton reminded himself firmly. Sure, it would be nice for him to remember anything from his youth, but he was happy now, under the care of two loving parents that he cared for very deeply. No sense in dwelling on what you couldn’t remember. Besides, he had Virgil here right now, and his top priority was making his friend feel comfortable in this new space. _

_ “Your house is so much cleaner,” was the first thing that Virgil said, after a long moment of silence. He wasn’t exactly wrong, the entire living room looked as though it had been surgically bleached. His parents liked a clean home.  _

_ Patton burst into laughter at that. “I promise my room looks more lived in,” he replied. “Plenty of dirty clothing on the floor.”  _

_ Sometimes, Patton hated feeling other people’s emotions. Sometimes it was a rush of hatred and disgust and all kinds of horrifying darkness that made Patton feel dirty just for feeling it secondhand. Sometimes it was sadness so crippling that Patton’s own knees felt weak, that he could feel himself tearing up. Sometimes, it was fear so paralyzing that he felt his joints lock up and his own breathing get shaky.  _

_  
_ _ Tonight, it was joy and excitement and a tinge of adrenaline that usually accompanied exploration. Tonight, Patton had never been less bothered by his empathic skill.  _

As they watched the movie, Patton could feel his mind beginning to wander. This was in no way the fault of  _ Avengers, _ he’d simply seen it more times than he could count. Besides, now his brain was full of thoughts regarding his special skills. 

The empathy was bad enough, forcing him to pry into people’s heads when he didn’t want to know, but his second skill was even worse, even more intrusive. Patton knew secrets, or more accurately, one secret per person. Sometimes he knew their worst fear, sometimes he knew their greatest hope. On  _ very _ rare occasions the two were the same. 

For instance, when he first met him, Virgil’s greatest fear was someone discovering that he was different. It had changed since that day, but Patton had known and always would know with nothing more than a simple cursory glance exactly what it was. There were no words floating in circles around Virgil’s head, there was no psychic link moment where everything became clear to him, he just looked at him, and he  _ knew.  _ He didn’t have any better way to explain it. 

Patton hated it. His mom’s greatest fear was cancer, and his dad’s greatest hope was to give his wife and son the best lives that they could possibly have. Most people’s were generic like that, but more often than he’d like to admit Patton would stumble across something that he’d rather not know. 

He’d outed his first foster father at age eight, asking his mom what a homosexual was, and why his new daddy was so worried about her finding out. He’d informed his second foster father bitterly at age twelve that his wife was having an affair, one that she feared he’d discover. It wasn’t until he was thirteen and finally settled in with his mom and dad that he was able to relax. 

Patton was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that when the doorbell rang, he jumped about a foot in the air, jostling the table. 

“Oh crap!” he cried out in distress, watching as Virgil’s glass teetered, before beginning to fall to the floor, almost as if in slow motion. 

Quick as a blink, Virgil’s hand shot out, easily snatching the glass before it hit the floor. He’d barely even looked up from his phone. 

“Nice catch,” Patton said with a grin. “Show off.” 

Virgil stuck his tongue out at him. “What can I say? I’m a man of many talents.” 

Two, to be exact. They both had two. It had taken Virgil a long time to use his around Patton, but his enhanced reflexes came in handy around the house, as Patton tended to bump into anything and everything that could be broken. Virgil had probably saved about ninety percent of their dishes by this point. Super fast reflexes don’t sound very much like a superpower until you bump the dining room table over and not a single dish ends up broken. 

“I’ll go see who it is,” Patton said cheerfully, patting Virgil’s silky purple locks as he passed him by, smoothing out his shirt in an attempt to make himself marginally more presentable before pulling open their heavy oak door. 

“Hello!” Patton said cheerfully, his smile dipping momentarily as he took in the scene before him. 

A young boy, maybe about his and Virgil’s age, stood in front of them. He had dark hair, so dark it was almost black, and navy blue spectacles on his face. He was dressed in all black, almost formal. He was expressionless, but a wave of guilt hit Patton like a brick. He began to feel uneasy.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” Patton tried again, eyes flicking behind the boy to see the two men standing there, staring straight ahead. They almost looked like soldiers. 

“I suppose,” the boy spoke, and Patton turned his attention back to him. He appeared to be sizing Patton up, an action which was not appreciated. “Are you Patton Hart or Virgil Sinclair?” 

“That would be me,” Patton said carefully, “What can I do to help you good folks?” 

The boy in front of him opened his mouth again, when he heard from down the hall, “Pat? Everything good out there?” Virgil was nervous, he could tell from his voice.

“Ah good, that answers my next question,” Logan said with a nod, now rummaging around in his back pocket for something. “Well, Patton, I would tell you that I am incredibly sorry about this, but the fact of the matter is, I don’t find myself bothered by this. After all, it is necessary.” 

Patton was taking a step back, already trying to close the door, but the man closest to him grabbed it before he could. “Virgil!” Patton shrieked as they pushed past him into the house, and then he felt a sharp prick in the side of his neck. 

Looking back at the young boy, Patton swayed for a moment, suddenly feeling heavy. Blinking drearily, he squinted in an attempt to focus. What was he supposed to be doing? Gosh, he sure felt worn out. Wouldn’t it be nice if he could just take a little nap?    
  
As Patton’s eyes sagged closed, he could hear Virgil doing something, most likely fighting the other men, but he couldn’t keep his focus on much of anything for too long. 

  
_ Family,  _ he thought as he drifted off, staring up into the other boy’s bright blue eyes,  _ his biggest hope is for a family.  _

And then his eyelids slipped shut, and he could feel his head thunk against their floorboards. 

Patton didn’t dream while he slept. It was just dark. He couldn’t see anything, he couldn’t hear anything, but he knew he was asleep. That in itself was peculiar. Patton was a lucid dreamer, and usually his entire night was filled with fantastical adventures and unusual shenanigans. 

He awoke in a strange bed, in the middle of a strange room. His eyes snapped open, another unusual occurrence for him, seeing as Patton usually took  _ ages _ to muster up the courage to open his eyes after a full night’s rest. 

The room was dimly lit, and he sat up, rubbing his neck slightly as he took in his surroundings. To his left was a table, a couple of books stacked underneath. In the right corner sat a potted plant with a light blue vase. In the chair next to the potted plant sat the same boy from the night before, staring intently at him. 

Patton jolted as he noticed him.

“Oh, good,” the boy said with what looked like an attempt at a friendly smile. “You’re awake. We may begin. My name is Logan.” 

Patton sat there, his mind racing.  _ Should I say something? Will that make it worse? Where am I? Who is Logan? How long was I asleep? What am I doing here? Why did he take me?  _

_ Where’s Virgil? _


	2. Janus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with another chapter! Unfortunately, since these are a little longer than the chapters in Evermore were, it'll probably take me a bit longer to get them out (not every day at the very least lol) so we'll see what kind of schedule I settle into. Anywho, my plan for this chapter wasn't super exciting but honestly I grew to like it more the more I wrote it, so I hope you enjoy! :D

Janus couldn’t believe his luck. Honestly. 

Walking throughout the crowded city street on swift feet, he eyed up the stores to his left and right respectively. The crowd rushed around him like a babbling brook, and just as loud. Vendors were out on the congested streets, doing their best to entice the public under their brightly colored coverings. Children were laughing, birds were chirping, and the organized chaos around him made conditions perfect for what he wanted to do. 

Janus ducked out of the street, standing off near the opening to a sweets store, observing the festival from a bit more of a difference. The shadows obscured his already covered face further, and Janus tugged impatiently at the strings on his hoodie, squinting his honey and hazel eyes squinting at the people wandering through the festival. “Come on, come on,” he muttered under his breath. 

A little ways away from him, a tan man with long black hair laughed loudly, running his fingers through his thick hair before interlacing them with his girlfriend’s once more. Perfect. 

Janus concentrated. Usually, when he shifted, he preferred to close his eyes, but the most important part of this whole thing was that he stayed constantly on his toes, so he begrudgingly kept them open. 

Janus could feel his entire body begin to tingle as the shift took over. That was probably his least favorite part of all of it. He could feel his chin bulging slightly, as well as his nose growing. His build became stockier, and his eyes, so captivating before, turned to a dulled brown. Likewise, his hair darkened as well, the already dyed blonde coloring fading from the roots outward. In a matter of moments, he was a completely different person. 

Janus put down his hoodie, stepping a bit further out of the shadow of the archway and smiling a smile that wasn’t quite his. “Alright, let’s get this started,” he said, his voice deeper than it had been only moments earlier. Good, that was all in order then too. The mimicry was always easier than the conscious effort shifting took him, so long as he heard their voice first. 

As he walked, opposite the direction from the man he’d just impersonated, he kicked at the sidewalk casually, forcing his toes to the end of his boot.  _ Did I lose a couple of inches?  _ He wondered, amused. He was pretty short already. 

Whatever. He ducked into a nearby store, one that sold crappy old antiques for overinflated prices, resisting the urge to crack his knuckles as he did so. That would have been horribly stereotypical. Giving the shopkeeper another one of someone else’s signature smiles, Janus set to work, eyes flicking from shelf to shelf, noting the unsurprising lack of customers that made his job much simpler than he needed it to be. 

As Janus left the same store only minutes later, an extra pep in his step and his pockets full of useless knick knacks, he blended back into the crowd easily, letting the flow carry him through the streets. 

Nabbing a spare pastry from a visiting vendor and dropping some change on the counter, he continued through the crowded streets, allowing his face to slowly bleed back into the one that he’d been assigned at birth. This time, changing back was almost like shrugging off a heavy coat, one that fit him just a little too strangely to feel completely comfortable in. 

That was the oddest part about it, in his opinion. Everyone was a slightly different experience. Some people fit like skin tight leather, others gave him a strange, almost bloated feeling while he was trying their likeness on. Still others left a tangy taste in his mouth, and on very, very rare occasions, people just felt  _ right.  _ A person’s outward appearance wasn’t the determining factor, to the best of his knowledge, as Janus had tried and failed to find one characteristic or pattern that would differentiate exactly how it felt to become that person. 

It was a beautiful, bright summer day, and the heat of the sun beat down on Janus’ back while he wandered, taking another bite of his chocolate pastry. The sweet was positively exquisite, and he smiled. The summer festival was his favorite time of year, not only for the ease with which he was suddenly able to pickpocket, but also for the out of state company and the vendors from all over that lined the streets constantly, jousting one another for position, each tarp cover more flamboyant and eye catching than the last. 

There were a couple of little kids playing in the street nearby, shrieking and giggling. Their mothers were pleasantly conversing a small ways away, most likely also keeping an eye on their respective children. Janus watched them from the corner of his eye, running his slender fingers through his hair. They were caught up in their own little world, unaware of the strife and conflict that surrounded them at all times. 

He frowned. Ah well, they would learn soon enough. He certainly had. 

As he moved on, his phone buzzed. Digging it out of his back pocket and checking it absentmindedly, he noted the time. 

_ Grandma: When will you be home, garter snake? _

Smirking at the pet name (though he’d never admit it), he shot back a ‘soon’ to his grandmother before repocketing his phone. He’d technically gone out today to see the festival and he wanted to stay just a little bit longer. After all, it really did only happen once a year. 

It was at that moment that Janus heard the crying. Honestly, it was a miracle that he could even pick it out in the first place, what with how quiet it was. Luckily, several years of living on edge and learning to make money where there was none had prepared Janus for hearing noises others didn’t deem quite so important. 

“Mom? Mommy!” 

Janus glanced around hurriedly, heart race picking up as the small voice became clearer. The kid was getting closer to him. 

It only took him a moment more to spot her, wearing a slightly scruffy white dress and blue boots, her straw colored hair pulled back in two braids. There were tear tracks on her cheeks, and she stood off to the side of the crowd, calling out to the foot traffic desperately, like she wanted to weave and search her way through the crowd but was unable to. She clutched the side of one of the nearby vendor’s tarps in her right hand and a tiny stuffed bear in her left.  _ Crap.  _

Quickly, he ducked out of the flow, approaching the girl with his best ‘I’m not intimidating’ smile. The girl, for what it’s worth, evaluated him through calculating eyes. This would be very good, if not for the small sniffles she let out every couple of seconds, and the tears budding in the corners of her little chocolate colored eyes.  _ Why is no one helping her?  _ he thought, an irrational surge of anger coursing through him. 

“Hey there kiddo,” Janus said, the words sounding a bit strange in his mouth, but pressing on nonetheless. “You doing okay there? You look a little lost.”   


The girl nodded hopefully, though he couldn’t tell which question she was nodding in response to. She kept the distance Janus had established by stopping a few feet away from her, clutching the tent behind her a little tighter. “I’m looking for my mommy,” she explained, before sizing him up again and stating decisively, “You’re not my mommy.” 

Janus had to push down a bubble of laughter at that, watching a small grin cross the girl’s face. “Well, you’re definitely correct there,” he admitted, shrugging in a ‘what are you gonna do’ kind of way. “But I can help you find her if you want,” he offered. 

“Mommy told me if I ever get lost to go to the nearest place I recognize and wait there for her, but she hasn’t come to get me yet and I’m scared,” she told him. Janus didn’t miss the way her voice broke on the last syllable, or the tears now threatening to spill over the corners of her eyes and down her rosy cheeks. 

_ Oh shit oh crap, don’t let the child cry,  _ he thought, and before he knew what he was doing, Janus had dug through his pocket and pulled out one of his knick knacks, a little silver chain with an aqua stone hanging from it. It was one of the simpler things he’d nabbed, most likely not even very old at all. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the store had taken it and distressed it themselves in an attempt to pass the necklace off as an antique. 

The little girl’s eyes widened as he offered the necklace to her, taking a step forward and reaching out with both of her little freckled hands to examine it. 

“Here you go,” Janus said dumbly, because he wasn’t really sure what exactly to tell the small girl, but he wanted her to know the necklace was hers to keep, and she seemed pretty entranced by it already, but it couldn’t hurt to clarify. 

“It’s so pretty,” the little girl said, touching the dangling stone carefully.  _ A child who’d been taught how to handle breakable things, even better,  _ Janus thought, giving her a reassuring smile. 

“Okay kiddo, if I’m going to help you, I’m going to need to know your name, okay?” he told her, and she nodded up at him. 

“That sounds reasonable,” she said softly, sounding out every syllable in the word reasonable. “My name is Jessica, but my friends all call me Jessie.” 

Janus continued to smile at her, hoping it was still coming off as reassuring. “That’s a very pretty name, Jessica,” he said, watching her attempt to fasten the necklace around her neck. “My name is Janus, and my friends call me Janus. Would you like some help with your necklace?” 

She giggled a little bit and nodded again, eager. “Thank you Mr Janus!” 

He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he knelt down to help her, Jessica turning around and raising her hair out of the way, even though it was in braids. Diligently, he refastened the little silver clasp around her neck, suddenly thankful for his long nails. 

“Alright Jessica, now let’s get you back to your mother!” he announced in his best chipper tone, and the little girl flashed him a grin brighter than the sun. 

_ I should probably find an officer, or maybe someone in charge of security,  _ he thought, and even though his blood went a little cold at the thought of willingly walking up to anyone dealing with law enforcement, he shot another glance over at the little girl, and he steeled his nerves, doing his best to push down the anxious fluttering in his stomach. 

“Okay Mr Janus,”Jessica responded, prim and proper and polite as she used her palm to wipe the last of her tears off of her face. Then, a little shyer; “Can I hold your hand?” 

He looked down at her, and the words “Of course,” were spilling out of his mouth before he could even stop them. 

Just as shyly, he felt a tiny hand slip into his, and Jessica gave him another of her little smiles. “Okay, all ready now,” she announced, and Janus grinned at her. 

And the two of them were off, Janus weaving through the crowd easily, used to navigating large groups of people. Every so often, he would glance behind him to reassure himself that Jessica was still there, despite the weight of her tiny hand in his own. 

As they neared the police tent, stationed near the barricades closing off the road at the ‘start’ of the festival, Janus could feel his stomach trying to crawl out of his throat. There were a few officers standing around under the cover of their tent, and one very desperate looking woman speaking with them hurriedly. As Janus approached, he could hear the conversation a little bit clearer. 

“Please, sir, I need to find my daughter,” the woman pleaded. “I don’t even know what happened, one moment she was holding my hand and the next she was  _ gone, _ please!” She sounded close to hysterics, clutching the deep red purse around her arm tightly. 

“Ma’am-” the police officer said in a slightly exasperated tone, but it was at that very moment that Jessica cried out “Mommy!” and let go of Janus’ hand, running past him on her short little legs and straight into the arms of the anxious woman. 

“Jessica!” the woman responded, picking up her daughter and squeezing her. “Oh my gosh, Jessica, what happened to you? Why did you let go of my hand? Are you safe? Are you okay?” The woman’s questions got louder and more concerned the longer she looked her daughter over, patting her down for injuries and then hugging her again, just as tightly as the first time. 

“Mommy, it’s okay,” the little girl said, in that same placid tone that all children somehow managed to channel through them when they really truly believed that nothing was wrong. “Mr Janus helped me.” 

“Who is Mr Janus, honey?” Jessica’s mother asked, biting her lip nervously and giving her daughter another once over. 

“He’s right over there!” Jessica pointed back to where he was awkwardly standing a few feet away, feeling a little bit like he was infringing on a personal moment. “He gave me a pretty necklace and helped me find you.” Janus gave her an awkward wave, unsure of what exactly to do. 

As Jessica’s mother looked him over, Janus squirmed under the scrutiny. Jessica clearly took after her mother, sharing her straight blonde hair and button nose, though her mother’s eyes were blue, and Jessica’s were brown. 

“Hi,” he tried, unsure of the proper protocol for dealing with returning a lost child. 

Jessica’s mother’s grip tightened on her child for a moment, and then she smiled genuinely at him, and  _ oh, that was Jessica’s smile too,  _ and tears were welling up in her mother’s eyes as she said her next words. “Thank you so much for bringing my little girl back to me.” 

Janus felt a rush of emotions, most of them positive, some of them bittersweet, still others a little bit confused and unsure. “Yeah, it was no biggie,” he managed to make out, giving her a smile and a head tilt. “I just did the respectable thing.” 

Jessica’s mother gave him another smile, and said in the most genuine, sincere voice she could manage, “Well, if the world were full of people like you, we’d be all the better for it.”    
  


Janus had to resist the urge to laugh outright at that, though the corners of his lips did twitch up. Hopefully, he could pass that off as a bashful smile.  _ Oh lady, you have no idea.  _ “It was my pleasure,” he responded smoothly, smiling down at Jessica and waving. “It was nice to meet you Jessica.” 

“Bye Mr Janus! Thank you for helping me find my mother!” Jessica said with another one of her big grins, and surged forward to wrap him in one more big hug before she let him go. 

“Bye Jessica,” he echoed, even as he turned away, smiling a little bit, knick knacks weighing heavily in his pockets. 

The walk home was a slow one, one that he knew well. He’d been walking these bleak streets for years now, practically since he was old enough to stand on his own two feet. They were as familiar to him as anything could be, the result of time and effort spent exploring their back alleys and lanes. 

Now that the festival was behind him, the cheery feeling had faded, the colors desaturated. Even the air seemed different, slightly stuffier. He knew that was ridiculous, he knew the air quality couldn’t deteriorate that quickly, but it seemed to choke him, worming its way down his throat and making itself at home in his lungs. It always had. 

A dog barked from a nearby house as he passed by, and Janus crossed the street. There was no one out on these roads, but that wasn’t uncommon. He wouldn’t have been very surprised if a tumbleweed bounced past him one of these days on his walk home. It was just horribly stereotypical enough to be funny. 

His grandmother’s house was a little brick house on the end of the block. She’d lived there as long as he’d known her, which was pretty much his entire life. Then again, he’d lived with her for most of that life. He didn’t really remember his parents, but that was okay in his book. Anyone who deserted their three year old child wasn’t anyone he ever wanted to meet, much less be related to. 

Besides, his grandmother had been a more than capable caretaker. No one had showed up at more random childhood talent shows and concerts than she did, and she baked cookies wherever Janus did anything even minorly noteworthy, to show him just how proud she was of him. They’d replanted practically the entire garden behind the house together when he was little, and it was yearly tradition by now for the two of them to go out on the first acceptably temperate day during the spring and do their first round of weeding together. 

Janus was walking up to the front step, already fumbling for his key when he stopped. The door was already open, slightly ajar. His eyes narrowed. 

He could hear deep voices coming from inside, faint, but definitely there. Not his grandmother. 

Without a second thought, he shifted, struggling a bit to pull his coat from this morning back on. Crap. Were the man’s eyes blue or brown? Was the small scar on his right hand or his left? Did his chin have a cleft in it or not? He didn’t remember, and that could be dangerous. 

His coat was full of holes, little ones, but holes nonetheless. It was like he’d left it in the back of his closet, only pulling it back out to wear again once the moths had had their way with it. Was his nose really that big too? That certainly didn’t feel right. Clearing his throat and letting his voice deepen and shift into the man’s honeyed rumble, he slipped his jacket off and left it on the rocking chair to the left of the door.  _ The voice was always easier.  _

“Mrs Devon?” he called out as he pushed the door the rest of the way open. The voices inside quieted immediately, and Janus put on his best mildly concerned but mostly confused look. His teeth were just a little too white to be real. Something told him that he wasn’t nailing this. 

“Janus? Sweetie is that you?” his grandmother called out. She sounded nervous, never a good sign. 

“No, it’s, ah, Mark.” Janus winced. He hadn’t had time to come up with a name, a story, anything. “From nextdoor?” he tried. 

“Ah, Mark, come on in!” his grandmother called out, and Janus had to resist smirking. She was a better actor than he’d ever be. 

As he walked through his hallway and into the kitchen, he found his grandmother sitting at the kitchen table with her hands crossed in front of her. Her lips were pursed and her expression was mildly frazzled. All around her, making themselves at home in her kitchen, were several different middle aged men. Sitting on the counter and sipping from a juice box was a boy that looked about his usual age, kicking his feet a little bit. 

Staring at the scene in front on him, Janus all but tilted his head to the side questioningly. “It appears that I am not acquainted with your guests, Mrs Devon. Are they new in town?” 

Before his grandmother could reply, the boy with the juice box spoke. His tone was icy. “Simply passing through.”

“Yes, I do believe they’re looking for my grandson,” his grandmother said, meeting his eyes. Janus could feel his blood run cold.  _ Surely this isn’t for petty theft,  _ he thought. 

“What did he do this time?” he tried to joke, but it fell flat. 

“Not a gosh darn thing,” his grandmother replied. “Mark dear, you will let me know if you see him, won’t you? He’s been out all day and I’m ever so worried about him.” 

“O-of course.” His throat felt dry. 

“We were informed that he would return at around this time,” the boy said, eyes narrowing behind his thick glasses lenses. He brushed some of his black hair out of his face as he evaluated Janus. 

That seemed to be happening a lot today.

“Well, I certainly haven’t seen him,” Janus responded, you know, like someone who certainly had seen him. 

“Of course you haven’t,” the boy repeated again, in that same cool tone that made Janus feel like his skin was crawling. “Because if you had seen him, then you would  _ certainly _ tell us. After all, you have nothing to hide, and as a fine, upstanding citizen you certainly want to make sure that the law is being upheld.”

“That goes without saying,” Janus replied.  _ Seriously, don’t say it. Stop talking to me. Please.  _

The boy sighed heavily. “This is a real shame, Mr Devon, I’d hoped you would cooperate with us…” 

“I’m sorry?” Janus replied, feeling dread begin to pool in the bottom of his stomach. 

“Yes,” the boy said with a nod. “Yes, I suppose you are.” 

  
There was a small prick in Janus’ neck, and he gasped, stumbling away from the man behind him, eyesight already going a bit fuzzy. Somewhere to his left, his grandmother let out an indignant cry.  _ Shit.  _ “What- what did you do to me?” he gasped out, blinking heavily even as the man retreated back next to the boy with the brilliant blue eyes. “Shit,” he gasped out, and then his vision went black. 


	3. Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Logan: Gotta catch 'em all

It was just like his brother to have done something incredibly stupid the last week of their senior year and then claim he was “too tired” to get anything else done for the rest of summer. Roman let out a small huff as he walked back from their kitchen, balancing two plastic cups in one hand, and a bowl of chips in the other.

Remus had set off fireworks indoors. Not a couple of fireworks either, he’d gone out with some friends a couple of nights before and bought as much as six months of a minimum wage paying job would buy in fireworks, which was more than you’d expect. Roman had been saving his own money for college, despite his scholarship, but Remus just went out on impulse and purchased more fireworks than could fit in the back of his truck quicker than you could say “bad idea”. 

  
Talk about going out with a bang. 

Besides, Remus wanted to be a ceramist, he’d already gotten everything set up and ready to go on that front. Best to start the whole ‘starving artist’ thing as early as possible, right? At least, that was his go to joke whenever it was brought up. 

“Anything good on TV?” Roman asked him, setting the cups and chips down on the table. 

Remus was flicking through the channels absentmindedly. “Nah,” he muttered. 

“Move your legs,” Roman told him, nudging one of the offending limbs. Remus insisted on wearing booty shorts throughout the entirety of ‘shorts season,’ no matter how cold out it actually was. Between the AC and the time of day, Roman didn’t know how his brother’s legs hadn’t frozen solid already. Remus had always run warm though. 

“Mmh, no,” Remus replied, reaching out and popping a chip into his mouth. 

“Don’t make me sit on you,” Roman warned him. “I’ll do it too.” 

“Whatever.” 

“You asked for it.” 

Roman sat down on Remus’ kneecaps, but instead of the usual cursing and writhing that would result from such an action shared by siblings, Roman could only feel Remus’ knees give a little bit, and then they went completely flat and rubbery. 

“Oh, gross!” Roman leapt off of him at once, brushing down his butt like he’d sat in lava. “You know that I simply despise it when you do that!” 

Remus let out a little snicker. “Do what?” he asked him, smirking. 

“You get all… rubbery. I don’t know how to explain it! Just… ew.” Roman made a face. 

“I know, right?” Remus grinned at him. “I’m like a gutted fish, ready to be cooked! Where do my bones go? Who knows…” 

“Don’t make it any weirder than you already have,” Roman said, exasperated, like they hadn’t had this conversation over and over again in the past. “Come on dude, please, just move your legs.” 

“Oh! Well why didn’t you just say so, brother dearest?” Remus said, batting his eyelashes comically at Roman and sliding his legs gracefully to the floor, where they fell with a slight jiggling motion, kind of like jello. Roman resisted the urge to make another face, he knew it just egged his brother on. 

Sitting down, Roman popped a chip into his own mouth, chewing slowly and savoring the flavor.    
  
Twelve years of schooling, done and dealt with. He couldn’t believe it. They’d done so much and spent so much time in that old brick building that it felt almost wrong to leave it. He had no more constants in his life, no more getting up early every week day for school, no more Friday math tests, no more lunch block to be spent with the theatre kids. He had lost all his constants. 

  
Well, all but one. 

Remus was his one true constant. They were going to the same college, despite all of the differences between them. Roman’s football scholarship was offered by a place with an excellent theatre program, and Remus had chosen the same school based on their stellar arts program alone.    
  
Remus was the antithesis to his thesis, the yin to his yang. Even Remus’ powers seemed to be in direct contradiction to his. Roman had expected them to be exactly the same, since they were twins, but his brother and he couldn’t be more different when it came to their strange, almost otherworldly skill sets. They’d had two apiece their entire lives, the powers of unknown origins that they only used when it was them and their parents around. 

Roman had always had thick skin and an even thicker skull, in every sense of the words. He couldn’t remember a time when any knife, nail, or needle had ever pierced his skin. He led a surprisingly bruise and scrape free childhood, but it wasn’t until he’d accidentally caught his finger in a stapler and pressed down and the stapler had bent that he realized he couldn’t break his epidermis. He’d come to his mother and father crying, they’d thought he was finally hurt, but when he showed them the bent stapler and his pristine almond skin, they’d simply exchanged a look that he couldn’t quite figure out. 

Remus’ skin was weird too, but not in the same way as Roman’s. Where Roman’s skin was rigid and unmoving, Remus’ was practically too easy to bruise. He’d spent most of his childhood covered in bandages and gauze pads, but he’d never broken a bone. This probably stemmed from the fact that Remus was like a rubber band. He could have been a contortionist, though Roman hadn’t ever seen a contortionist that could squeeze themselves completely flat and slide under his door to wake him up at three am on their birthday. Remus had limits, sure, and he seemed to keep the same body mass no matter what, but it was like his bones were gone sometimes, weird to look at and even weirder to feel. 

It was Remus’ second skill that really made him the one with the more interesting skill set, in Roman’s opinion at least. It was the one thing that actually made him a match for Roman’s super strength, and made sibling squabbles a little bit more “fair.” He didn’t use it often, and Roman hadn’t ever really been able to put a finger on what he should call it. 

_ They were seven or eight at the time, sitting on the floor of their living room, propped up in front of the TV. Colorful cartoons flashed on the tiny screen, but neither brother was actually paying much attention at all to them. Their focus lay on the toys on the rug in front of them, trucks and cars and dolls and little tiny building blocks.  _

_ “Boys, do you want lemonade?” their mother called from the kitchen, before returning to her usual humming. _

_ “Yes please!” Roman called back to her politely, before returning to his very serious battle with Remus. So far it looked like he was winning, but he never knew when Remus would try and cheat to get the upper hand, so he had to stay vigilant. His father had taught him that word last week, and Roman had been thrilled to know that it had so many practical applications.  _

_ “Alright, Monsieur Poopybutt will now lead his forces in an attack!” Remus cried out, holding up his own doll, a barbie with a sharpie mustache scribbled across its small upper lip. He placed the doll very delicately in his biggest monster truck, colored the green and brown of camouflage. _

_ As Remus mimed driving the car closer to Roman’s lego castle, he let out a hearty laugh. “You fool! You’ve fallen for my plan, hook, line, and stinker!” _

_ Remus chuckled. “It’s hook line and sinker, doofus!”  _

_ “Whatever! Point is, I have you now!” Roman grabbed another of the dolls, one he’d been saving for the special moment that Remus tried to attack him head on, like he always did. “This is Princess Elizabeth!” he announced, brandishing the doll close to Remus’ face so that he could see her closer. “She wears a sparkly dress!”  _

_ “I know Princess Elizabeth,” Remus replied, unimpressed. “You use her every time we play. She knows how to use swords and whatever. She’s not that cool.”  _

_ Roman gasped theatrically. “How dare you besmirch the good name of Princess Elizabeth?” he cried, dramatically throwing one arm over his forehead, the other still clutching his doll tightly.  _

_ “Meh.”  _

_ “Well, dear brother, there’s something you do not know!” Roman cried out, grinning the gap tooth smile of a delighted child. “Princess Elizabeth has learned a new skill since our last battle!”  _

_ “Oh?” Remus asked him curiously, tilting his head and flashing his own identical gap tooth smile. “What is it?”  _

_ “Princess Elizabeth has learned how to use magic,” Roman whispered, eyes sparkling as he leaned in for dramatic effect. It had taken him days to fully flesh out her backstory, limitations, and powers. Originally, he’d wanted to make her like himself, but in the end he’d fallen back on the classic elemental control.  _

_ Remus let out a raspberry. “Well that’s good for me, since Monsieur Poopybutt is immune to magic,” he said with a shrug, knocking Roman’s doll out of the way and continuing his siege on Roman’s now unprotected castle.  _

_ “Wait, you can’t just do that!” Roman cried out, scrambling to grab Princess Elizabeth. “You made that up just now, you can’t change the rules!” _

_ “So what if I did?” Remus asked him, grinning. He was already in the process of destroying Roman’s castle, ramming the truck containing his own doll into the side of the structure again and again. “Monsieur Poopybutt can do whatever he wants! He’s immune to magic because I say so, and he’s killed Princess Elizabeth, so I’m free to attack your castle! Besides, you can’t learn how to use magic that quickly, that’s unreasonable. Learning magic takes time!”  _

_ “Princess Elizabeth is not dead!” Roman protested, holding her aloft. “See, she’s right here! She’s fine! You didn’t do anything to her!” He paused. “And you can too learn magic that quickly! Princess Elizabeth is a fast learner!”  _

_ Remus just looked over at him, before grabbing the doll out of his hand and chucking her across the room.  _

_ “Hey!”  _

_ “You started it! There, she’s dead, I killed her! Don’t make me pop off her head too!” Remus retaliated. “She’s gone, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”  _

_ Roman let out a shriek, throwing himself at his brother and knocking him away from the castle, sending him staggering to right himself.  _

_ “What was that for?”  _

_ “You can’t just kill Princess Elizabeth! She’s my doll, not yours!” _

_ They were both on their feet now, glaring at one another, the toys discarded. “I can and I will!” Remus replied haughtily.  _

_ “I hate you!” he yelled at his brother. _

_ “And what are you gonna do about it, huh? Punch me?” Remus’ voice was deeper now, a low growl in the back of his throat that no ten year old should be able to use.  _

_ Roman shoved him. He knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, he knew that Mom had told him never to physically lay his hands on anyone unless it really couldn’t be helped, because they weren’t as strong as he was, but he couldn’t help it. Remus had been a pain in the butt all day, and this was just the last straw. Besides, he’d killed Princess Elizabeth and that was simply unacceptable. She was too important to just be killed off like that. So he pushed his brother with all the strength he could muster, stumbling into him and knocking him over.  _

_ Immediately, it was like his arm had gone dead. Pins and needles traveled throughout his entire body, and Roman felt drained for a second. Stumbling further, he fell on top of his brother. Immediately, Remus went pliant beneath him, probably ready to ooze away from him like he usually did. “Ow, get off me!” Remus cried out.  _

_ Roman felt like his body had been filled with lead, the pins and needles feeling retreating and leaving him utterly drained. He was oblivious to Remus’ whining as he tried to figure out exactly what he just felt. That had never happened before, not even when he hit things as hard as he possibly could.  _

_ “I said, get off of me!” Remus cried one last time, and then he shoved up at Roman.  _

_ Roman stumbled back and off of his brother, feeling a little bit like he’d bounced off of a wall. Crying out on his own, he felt his back connect with the floor as the air was knocked out of him.  _

_ A moment passed, and then Roman became acutely aware of his brother staring at him with wide eyes, their quarrel forgotten. His brother had shoved him away with a strength that only Roman could have possessed.  _

_ It had happened in the span of a couple moments, only seconds. Maybe he’d imagined it. Roman rubbed his elbow on reflex, even if it didn’t really hurt. He had never felt more powerless.  _

The best way he could think to explain it was energy redirection. However hard you hit Remus, he could hit back just as hard. He assumed. It’s not like they took a lot of time testing it out. As long as Remus could weather the hit, he would be fine. That was a lot cooler than his super strength, the only thing he got out of that was an advantage in football. 

_ I wonder if Remus would be able to redirect energy from a moving car?  _ he wondered to himself before banishing the thought from his mind. Remus would  _ absolutely  _ be up for being hit by a moving car for an experiment, and if he even heard about the idea he wouldn’t be able to get the idea out of his head. If he didn’t end up asking Roman to do it, he’d find someone else to hit him with a car. Roman wasn’t sure which of those options he felt more comfortable with. Probably neither. 

Right now, they were both just having a lazy night in, gorging themselves on food while their parents were still paying to keep it stocked in the house and heckling at reruns on TV. It was peaceful and familiar, and Roman was glad for that. With so much changing so soon, he was a little nervous for what the future held. 

Their mom brought their dinner out to the couch about halfway through wherever stupid TV show they’d put on for background noise, and after a profuse thanks from the twins, who hadn’t expected any other food to be provided, she retreated back to her study to work. 

They dug into their calzones while they watched, the ceramic plates cold in their laps even with the steaming food atop them. College was stressful to think about, college was going to be expensive, and college was nowhere on their radar tonight, luckily. 

The Princes had a rather nice house, upper class if you will. It was no mansion, but they had several floors and more than enough bedrooms for everyone. They were quite comfortable, and one of the features of their big house was their lovely doorbell, which had been rewired sometime when Roman and Remus were children to ring with a pleasant chime whenever anyone pressed the button. That being said, the sudden loud knocking at the door was a jolt to both of the twin’s systems, unexpected and louder than was strictly necessary. 

Roman felt his grip on his fork tighten a little bit too much in his surprise and he looked down sheepishly. “I bent another one,” he told Remus. 

His brother just rolled his eyes. “You’re a dork. Try to bend it back into shape while I go greet our guests.” He slid off of the couch and, with a shimmy, waltzed over to their intricate front door, opening it with a flourish. 

Roman listened from the couch. His brother had an interesting way of greeting guests that tended to persuade them to leave quickly if they were unwanted, and his methods were fun to listen to. He just didn’t have a clue who would be knocking at- he checked the time- ten thirty at night. 

He could hear Remus wolf whistle from the doorway, low and long. Roman frowned. He’d have to talk to Remus about doing that in the future, that was quite inappropriate. Then again, if he told him that, it might just make him do it more. 

“Damn, where’d you fall from, angel?” Remus said, presumably addressing whoever had the misfortune to be on their doorstep. 

The response was quiet, and Roman had to strain to hear it from the spot on the couch. “I have not fallen, in fact, I’m here on business. I’m looking for Roman and Remus Prince.” 

“I sure hope you are, pretty boy.” Roman could almost feel Remus’ smirk, could almost envision his brother biting his lip in that way he did that made you feel weird making eye contact with him ever again. “Hey Ro,” he called over his shoulder. “Look who’s here to see us!” 

Roman poked his head over top of the couch just as the boy at the door sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “This is definitely them. Just…” he waved his hand vaguely at the men behind him. “You know the drill.” 

It took Roman about three seconds too long to understand exactly what he meant by that. One second Remus was standing there, grinning at him with his hands on his hips, the next his brother had been stabbed in the arm by the man closest to him, crumpling to the floor mere moments later. The man leaned down and picked him up like a sack of potatoes, beginning to walk out the door. 

Panic rippled through Roman’s system as Remus left his field of view, and he threw himself at the blue eyed boy, unsure of quite what he was supposed to do but knowing that when he got there he’d figure out exactly what he was doing. He had to get Remus back. 

Unsurprisingly, the boy dodged, stepping neatly out of Roman’s way and back a little further onto their porch. Thrown for a bit of a loop, Roman stumbled, twirling around to try and find the man that had grabbed Remus, single minded and focused on that and that alone, and- 

-he felt a sharp prick in the side of his neck. 

“You son of a bitch,” he whispered, feeling a haze settle over him, stumbling a bit further as his vision began to go dark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed my bumbling through the explanations of Roman and Remus' powers! With this chapter up most all the players are in the same place and the real story can begin! Thank you all so much for your sweet comments, you make my day! <3
> 
> It's been brought to my attention that the ages of these kiddos and the terminology I use to describe them is a bit confusing (thank you so much Canadiantardis), so I figured why not throw the ages down here where everyone who doesn't make a point of scrolling through other people's comments on stories can see them too! :)
> 
> Virgil and Patton are college freshmen, so they’re 18/19 respectively  
> Janus just finished up his senior year (along with Roman and Remus) so they’re all somewhere in the 17-18 range, with Janus being 17 and the twins being 18  
> Logan’s age is a secret for now but I'll tell you guys that he looks young for his age, especially next to the people he’s walking around with rn so that lead to a bit of narrator confusion (Janus and Patton were having trouble figuring him out.)
> 
> They're not exactly kids but not exactly men. So teens then lol. I've altered the summary accordingly.
> 
> Hope you all have a lovely day and stay safe out there!


	4. Virgil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my favorite chapter, but ah, we need some good exposition up in here. Virgil is struggling between panicking and genuine curiosity.

Virgil awoke the same way he did each morning, eyes snapping open, heart pounding. Something was  _ off,  _ something was  _ wrong,  _ he needed to  _ do something now.  _ Letting out a breath that was more of a gasp than anything else, he grabbed at the open air in front of him and jerked up off of the mattress. It crinkled slightly below him. 

Now that he was actually sitting up, the blood rushed to his head. “Woah,” Virgil muttered, now gripping the bedsheets as he blinked rapidly, trying his best to get rid of the black spots that now clouded his vision. Squinting at his surroundings, he picked out the little details first, focusing on one thing at a time. 

_ Where am I?  _ His heartbeat picked up again. 

There was a small potted cactus on his bedside table. His sheets were white with little flecks on light blue sprinkled throughout. The wood on his bed was dark wood, maybe mahogany. There was a little fluffy latch hook rug near his bed, weathered with age and messily done. Maybe a child lived here? There was a small, metal stool next to the door, a stool with a person sitting on it. 

Virgil jolted again, taking in the attire and appearance of the person sitting in the room watching him. He was tall and willowy, with pale white skin and high cheekbones. His eyes were a startling blue behind his glasses, and he was dressed in all black, Virgil’s signature color. “Were you watching me sleep?” he accused him, pulling the covers up further over himself self consciously. It didn’t matter, he was still dressed in his clothing from Friday night. 

“I was merely present when you were unconscious,” the boy said, maintaining an uncomfortable amount of eye contact. 

_ I’ll weather the socialization any day if it means I’m sure I won’t be stabbed while I’m not looking. _

Virgil paused as the words sunk in, squinting his eyes suspiciously. “Avengers reference?” 

A smirk tugged at the corners of the boy’s lips, but he didn’t acknowledge the statement. “I’ve just wrapped up speaking with Patton, I’m so glad to see that you’re awake.” He didn’t look glad. “My name is Logan.”

“Patton?” Virgil could feel his anxiety spike again, eyes flitting around the room and finally settling on the door behind his captor. “Where is he? What did you do with him?”  _ They have Patton, oh god they have Patton.  _

“Relax,” the boy, Logan, said. “You are awfully dramatic, were you aware of that fact?” 

“Vaguely,” Virgil muttered, doing his best to calm down and not sound like a needy boyfriend. “Where’s Patton?” 

“Down the hall,” Logan replied, indicating his head to the right, Virgil’s left. “He was curious about many things, it was very tiring.” 

“Well, I’m joining him in the curious cat club,” Virgil retorted. “Where are we? Why am I here? Where is here? Why did you feel the need to  _ kidnap  _ me? Do you know what the word  _ ‘please’  _ means?” He was practically snarling by the end of the sentence.  _ Careful. Be careful.  _

Logan sighed, ticking the answers off on his fingers as he answered Virgil. “We are at The Safehouse, you’re here because of the enhanced abilities that you possess, we are somewhere in Northern America, I was not the one who made the choice to forcibly relocate you and your friend, and of course I know the definition of the word please. It’s a word most commonly used when making polite requests.”

“The Safehouse?” Virgil asked. 

“Yes, the one house in which we are safe. I would have thought that part at least would be obvious.” Logan rolled his eyes. Virgil wasn’t sure if he admired Logan or hated him.  _ He has Patton, you definitely hate him.  _ He was unsure of whether or not Patton was being held over his head like bait. 

“You mentioned my enhanced abilities,” he said instead of the number of choice curses currently running through his head. “What if I were to use those particular abilities to escape?” 

“You mean to _ attempt _ to escape. I’m quite certain that you wouldn’t get very far at all,” Logan noted with a small smirk. “Not with me here.” 

“Oh, and what makes you so special?” Virgil sized Logan up. He was pretty skinny himself, but even he had some muscle mass on Logan, who looked like a twig about to snap at any second. 

“All in good time,” Logan responded tactfully. “Now, you’ve been called here on request of my employer, to assist her with a mission.” 

“A mission,” Virgil repeated. 

_ Maybe this is a dream. I fell asleep on the couch under Patton again and the old pizza fucked up my head. Yeah, that makes sense.  _

“That is what I said, is it not?” 

“God, James Bond, who’s our target?” Virgil asked, rolling his eyes. “I’m just a college kid, my only ‘missions’ are studying for tests and figuring out what I’m going to eat for my next meal.”

“I would not make light of this situation if I were you, Virgil,” Logan replied coldly. “It is certainly a matter of life and death. We would not have pulled you from your home if it was anything less.” 

Virgil raised an eyebrow, but if the stony look on Logan’s face was anything to go by, he at least thought that he was telling the truth.  _ This guy is a nutjob,  _ he thought, concern still heavily present in his mind. “I won’t help you unless I can see Patton,” he declared.  _ There, I’ll give him an ultimatum.  _

Logan sighed. “You will see Patton momentarily, as you were the last to wake up. The others are in the central eating area. We simply needed to assess you all individually to gauge your reactions to waking up in an unfamiliar place but rest assured, we never intended to keep you separated from your friend.”

“Good,” Virgil said. “Then I’m doing great, couldn’t be happier with the change of scenery. Take me now.” He was bluffing, his heart was racing, and he could feel his palms getting clammy with sweat. He was pretty sure Logan knew that too. 

The halls were nothing like Virgil had expected. He’d somehow built The Safehouse up in his mind as some big facility, something worthy of capital letters, maybe. Something with cold metal walls and a white floor and ceiling. In reality, that couldn’t have been further from reality.    
  
Instead, the halls had light purple wallpaper, and green and blue carpeting. It was almost like a hotel in that there were several different doors throughout the hallway and there was a little table at the end of the it, little daffodils in the vase atop it. Cute. 

Logan opened the door on the very end of the hall, gesturing for Virgil to step inside ahead of him. 

_ Is he going to trap me? Lock me in this room and not let me out because I was snippish and angry with him? Starve me to death slowly and throw away the key so that no one will ever find my body?  _

Apparently, Virgil took too long debating the risks because, with a loud sigh, Logan stepped through the door himself, holding it open behind him. 

_ Oh, he was just holding the door open for me.  _ Virgil did his best not to flush with embarrassment. He did not succeed. 

The room they stepped into was equally quaint, with little circular tables set up around it and what looked a bit like a buffet table set up against the opposite wall. It was at that moment that Virgil’s stomach decided to remind him just how hungry it was, letting out a loud grumble at the sight of the breakfast food in protest of Virgil’s involuntary fasting. There was a little kitchenette looking thing to the right of the table, with all of the basics. Supposedly, that was how the food had been prepared. 

Maybe they’d called a caterer. It was a lot of food. Virgil smirked at the idea of them ordering food to deliver to this place.  _ Hello, I’d like to order a breakfast spread for my murder house. We need to feed the several teenagers we kidnapped last night. What’s our address, you ask? Oh, you know… somewhere in Northern America... _

“You may eat if you want,” Logan said, from where he stood next to Virgil, also surveying the room. 

“I’m so glad I have your permission,” Virgil muttered. 

“I was simply bringing it to your attention,” Logan retorted, most likely rolling his eyes again next to Virgil.  _ Yeah, well he’d better get used to it.  _

“Virgil!” 

Virgil’s head jerked quickly to his left.  _ Patton.  _

The voice startled him almost as much as the hug did, and then his arms were full of the fluffy blonde haired boy, and he was hugging Patton back just as hard, if not harder. It was a while before he let him go again. 

“You’re awake!” Patton chirped happily, smiling briefly at Logan before returning his gaze to Virgil. “I was talking to Logan about it and he said that the soporific tranquilizer wears off at different times for everyone, so I had to wait to see you, but it wasn’t even that long! It’s only been like twenty minutes! You have no idea how  _ tranq _ -ful I am to see you!” 

Virgil was so caught up in his excitement over seeing Patton again that he completely glossed over the pun, just grinning wider before noticing Patton’s neck. Slowly, he reached out again to touch Patton’s neck where the needle had clearly gone in. The area was rough and irritated. “What happened here?” he asked him quietly. 

“Oh hey, it’s nothing! I just had a slight allergic reaction to the tranquilizer!” Patton said with a quick, forced laugh. “No biggie!” He brushed some of his slightly longer curls over the mark. 

Virgil could feel his blood boil a little bit. 

“Here let’s introduce you to my new friends!” Patton suggested, still nervously giggling. 

“New friends?” Virgil asked, and then he noticed the other boys in the room, watching them like they were a sitcom of TV drama, eyes wide.  _ Oh, great.  _

Patton could make friends with anyone. It was a talent. He collected them like small pebbles, holding them in his pocket and rolling them around in his hands, and he remembered all of their names. Once, Virgil had left Patton alone with a wild mother cat to go find something to transport the dangerous animal, and by the time he’d come back the cat was sitting on Patton’s lap and purring loudly. They hadn’t even needed the carrier he’d gone to grab in the end. 

Virgil eyed up the other three people in the room nervously, self consciously pulling Patton a little bit closer to himself defensively. 

Two of them were clearly twins, the same face on two different bodies. The one on the right was wearing a letterman jacket, with what Virgil had to assume was dyed reddish auburn hair and green eyes. He shared his almond skin with his brother, who had a slightly unhinged look on his face, too much makeup on, and dyed green tips. He had to be wearing contacts, because there was no way in hell anyone had naturally red eyes. 

The third just let out a little  _ tsk _ sound, rolling his eyes as Virgil looked him up and down suspiciously. “Calm your tits, none of us want to take your little boyfriend away from you,” he drawled, before taking another sip from the steaming cup in front of him. 

“Shut up,” Virgil growled at him at the exact same time that Patton cheerfully exclaimed “Oh, we aren’t dating!” It was a common misconception, and he said the words with a rehearsed flow that only came with years of practice. They used to get flustered when people assumed that they were dating, but by now it was almost expected. 

He shot another glare at bottle blonde for good measure.  _ I am too angry and tired and stressed to deal with your bullshit.  _

The boy rolled his honey and hazel colored eyes, popping another bite of his bagel into his mouth.  _ What kind of person eats a bagel with no toppings? And he’s ripping it into little chunks first too.  _ This boy had a slim face with a pointed nose, and he was clearly a bottle blonde. His roots were growing in. 

“Come on,” Patton said, softly tugging at Virgil’s arm and leading him to the biggest circular table, right in the center of the room. “I’ve saved you a seat.” 

Technically, he wasn’t wrong. However, there were eight seats at the table and only three of them were filled at the moment. Surprisingly, Logan sat down when they did, next to the twins, bringing their number up to six. 

“What are you doing?” Virgil asked him, though not particularly unkindly. 

Logan frowned. “I am sitting, was that action unclear to you?” 

“No, dipshit, he’s asking  _ why _ you’re sitting with us,” the blonde boy said, and Virgil took a moment to reevaluate his feelings. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. 

“Ah, yes.” Logan sighed like it pained him. “I have been instructed by my employer to... bond with you.” 

“Well don’t look so happy about it,” the blonde boy retorted, and Virgil smothered a giggle. 

“Oh trust me, I am not.” Logan replied. “Happy about it, that is. I have lived here for many years, and now I am being forced to share my home with five  _ children. _ All you do is whine, it’s exhausting.” 

“Oh you’re being forced?” Virgil said, at the same time that the blonde boy chimed in with “That’s rich.” 

“You live here?” Patton asked quietly, focusing on the part that the others had missed in their haste to let Logan know just how pissed off they were. 

Logan paused, before a slightly annoyed look crossed his face. “Yes, I’ve lived here for as long as I care to remember. It has been an adequate home.” 

“Oh come on,” a new voice chimed in, and everyone at the table turned to look at the source. “Surely you care more for our little setup here than you’d care to admit, Berry?” 

Virgil’s first impression of her was that she was probably the most dramatic person he’d met all day, and that was saying something. Stepping out of the shadow of the doorframe, a woman walked into the room, joining them. She had long wavy hair with a coloring most comparable to Logan’s dark locks, and she, like Logan, wore dark greys and blacks. Maybe it was a uniform. She was slightly muscular, though not any more than himself.    
  
He would assume that she wore a smug smirk, or maybe an actual, genuine smile, but he couldn’t quite be sure. A mask covered her face, and while wisps of her hair concealed the edges of the mask, the face on the disguise itself was a little unnerving. 

“What’s with the mask?” bottle blonde blurted out, crossing his arms. 

The woman just tilted her head at him quizzically, before letting out a small, high laugh. “Why Janus, I don my mask for the very same reasons that you prefer to wear unfamiliar faces when dealing with unfamiliar places.” 

Janus shut his mouth with a  _ snap, _ clenching his jaw.

Logan smiled at her. It was probably the first genuine, happy emotion Virgil had seen from him since he’d woken up. “Everyone, I am pleased to introduce you to my employer.”

“Come on Logan,” the woman said, in an exasperated, animated tone. It made it quite easy to distinguish her feelings on a given topic despite the lack of facial movement. “You know I haven’t paid you a day in my life.”

“Yes, you simply feed me, clothe me, and have spent most of your life ensuring that I am safe and secure,” Logan replied, rolling his eyes. “Payment.” 

“Really, dude?” Virgil interjected, “She sounds more like your mother than your employer.” 

Logan’s face fell a bit, his expression trickling down into nothing as his expression became unreadable. He may as well have been wearing a mask of his own. 

“Anyways, I’ll be on my way now, I just wanted to check in on you all and make sure you’d all settled,” she continued, tone chipper but brittle. 

Virgil narrowed his eyes as she left. They hadn’t even gotten her name. His makeup had been smeared all over his face in his sleep, a fact that he half realized with a rush of self consciousness. “Really? That’s the reason we’re all here?” he asked the open air, still seriously contemplating kicking Logan in the teeth and making a break for it. The only thing stopping him was the lack of windows and the fact that there were too many doors for him to feasibly smuggle Patton out quickly enough.  _ Patton…  _ That was another problem. His friend seemed completely at ease, smiling at everyone and drinking what appeared to be apple juice. 

_ Or… poisoned apple juice. Whiskey. More drugs to keep him happy and complacent.  _

It was all Virgil could do to keep himself from smacking the cup out of Patton’s hand. 

“The reason you’re all here is for the betterment of the world,” Logan assured them, spilling more of that bullshit Virgil had been hearing from him since the moment he’d woken up. “I assure you that if it was not of the  _ utmost  _ importance that you be relocated, I would not have done so. I don’t know how many times I can repeat the same words in different ways before you understand me.” 

“Fine,” Virgil said. “Then you can at least tell us why you’ve dragged us from our homes. What do we ‘need to do’ to save the world?” 

Logan let out a small huff. “A lot of this information is dangerous to speak freely, but I will concede and tell you what I know is acceptable to share with you. You all have been brought together because of the enhanced abilities that you share, to finally use those abilities for something worthwhile, and to prevent what others would do with those abilities if you were to fall into their possession. You shouldn’t exist and yet you do, a perfect unit.” 

Patton wrinkled his nose. “What do you mean by that?” he asked Logan, voicing the question they were all thinking. 

Logan sighed. “I suppose I will simply have to point out to you what has been so glaringly obvious to me for so long. Virgil Sinclair, with your unmatched reflexes and hearing, you are the perfect stealth operative. You were built to be agile and nearly undetectable.”

_ How am I supposed to feel about that?  _ Virgil wondered. He wasn’t quite sure. He settled for giving Logan a small grimace. 

Logan continued on. “Janus Devon, between your uncanny ability to mimic faces and voices, you are the obvious choice for a spy, someone sent ahead of a mission to conduct research and collect intel on your targets.” 

Janus made a face. It wasn’t a good one.   
  
“Patton Hart, your knowledge of secrets and your ability to get quick reads on people allows you to step into many roles, most of them including some form of manipulation. You are able to adjust your reactions to a situation in the split second it takes for you to consider the other participant’s emotions, and you can gain insight that would be otherwise impossible to discover.”

“I would never do that!” Patton said stubbornly, expressing what seemed to be his first negative emotion since Virgil had entered the room. He seemed horrified at the thought of using his powers to manipulate or interrogate others, his eyebrows pulling together in that way they always did when he was concerned. 

“It doesn’t matter whether you want to do it or not, it’s simply what you were designed to do,” Logan responded, not unkindly. He turned to the next in line and frowned a little. “Remus Prince, I will say that you stump me.” 

Remus, the crackhead twin, did a full body wiggle and grinned at Logan’s statement. Virgil winced. Remus’ voice was a bit higher than his brother’s. “I’m happy to provide a mystery, pretty boy.” His twin elbowed him roughly in the side. 

Logan shook his head, ignoring him. “My best guess is that you were simply a ‘grab bag,’ for lack of a better term. I can find nothing to connect your two enhanced abilities to one specific job, though I will admit that your ability to squeeze into and through small spaces would certainly prove quite useful.” 

“I can squeeze into your small-” Remus managed to get out before Janus’ hand was clamped over his mouth. The other boy hadn’t even looked up from his tea. Yeah, Virgil was liking Janus more and more by the minute. 

Logan sighed. 

There was a moment of silence, then- “Ew!” Janus pulled back his hand like he’d been burnt. “Don’t lick me,” he hissed out, clutching his hand to himself almost dramatically. 

“Don’t try to shut me up,” Remus responded with a grin.  _ That is not the smile of a man who possesses all of his brain cells,  _ Virgil thought absentmindedly. 

Logan was doing a stellar job acting like Remus wasn’t in the room. Virgil wished he had his willpower. “Roman Prince…” he said, voice trailing off as he looked Roman over for a beat. “Your strength alone would be impressive, but with the addition of your impenetrable skin, you become a double threat. You would be very dangerous indeed if faced in combat.” 

“Impenetrable skin?” Janus drawled, raising one delicate eyebrow. “Oh honey, there’s no way. I see that mark on his neck clear as day. He was stabbed, same as us. How else would you get that drug into his body?”

Roman flushed a bright red at that, though Virgil wasn’t quite sure why exactly he’d be embarrassed by that. Perplexed, sure, but embarrassed? He didn’t know if he’d go that far. 

“Aww, everyone has performance issues sometimes, Roman!” his brother cooed at him, clearly trying to keep from laughing. 

“Ah yes,” Logan said, once more pretending that Remus hadn’t spoken. “Last night was a special circumstance.”    
  
“What do you mean?” Virgil asked him. 

“Well… I was there,” Logan said simply, as though that solved everything and answered all of their questions. 

“You say that like it’s supposed to mean something,” Virgil said with a roll of his eyes. They were really getting a workout tonight, between all the bullshit they were trying to feed him and the personalities of his fellow enhanced individuals. 

Now  _ that  _ was a fact that he had yet to try and wrap his head around. There were other people out there like him, he and Patton weren’t as alone as they had thought, the people were there and they were just as strange and weird as him. And they all just so happened to be kidnapped by the same crazy man. Small world, huh?

“My enhanced abilities generally lie within the mental realm, as I have increased cognition and an incredible memory, but I also have a more… unique skill.” Logan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, looking a little smug. “I can numb other’s enhanced abilities with a touch.” 

Virgil’s heart sank a little bit further as his convoluted, half baked plans of escape got a little bit more impossible. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So everyone in the core six has two (2) abilities apiece! I toiled for hours choosing them, so I hope that you enjoyed the reveal. Now, all of our main pieces are in place, and the ball has begun to roll. I tried to just skeet Roman's conundrum last chapter under the radar but you guys are way too freaking smart for that, so I also hope you enjoyed the explanation to the mystery lol!
> 
> I'm loving all the comments and questions about the story, it's my current passion project and it makes me so freaking excited to see you guys having as good a time reading it as I have writing it. Stay safe and happy out there! <3


	5. Patton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last plot chapter before I smack y'all in the face with shippy fluffy bonding stuff, so enjoy the dark tone while it lasts I guess lol
> 
> Alternate chapter title: Patton Tries To Explain That Trust Is A Two Way Street

Patton awoke the next day not to the sounds of birds chirping as he was so used to, but instead to the rush of water through pipes in the wall. Yawning once and stretching a reasonable amount, he decided he should get up. 

This was his first time being kidnapped, and honestly, everyone seemed so nice and genuine about it. That probably wasn’t the norm, but he could tell just from Logan’s emotions that while he was doing his best to keep his cool kid persona up, he really was a little whirlwind of emotion, anxiety, worry, and a healthy dose of fear that Patton wasn’t used to seeing in people. He figured the kid was most likely attempting to do the right thing, if a bit misguided. 

At first he’d suspected that Logan was in the same boat they were, that he was being coerced in some way. Those suspicions were quickly dissipated the moment he watched Logan begin to talk about his “employer”. The wave of genuine familial love Patton had been hit with had been enough to knock his metaphorical socks off. 

Something about the two of them and their secretive nature had just told Patton that they wouldn’t have taken him if they really didn’t have such a good reason. He wasn’t sure how many of his housemates shared that sentiment. 

There was a small note resting on his bedside table. The words were written in a flowy, elegant script. 

_ Patton, _

_ I would like to meet with you when you awake to discuss a couple of important matters. Please join me behind the second door to the left. Breakfast will be provided.  _

  1. _New clothing is in the closet_



Patton looked in the closet. The note didn’t lie, there were several articles of clothing, all of them the same off blue, almost white. Every piece fit him perfectly. He decided not to dwell on it. 

Patton walked down the hall and knocked twice on the door. 

The response was nearly immediate. “It’s open, you can come in!” 

Pushing open the door lead to the room with a smile, Patton was faced with the same mask he had seen the day before, no less jarring. 

Now that he had a moment to look at her, really look at her, Patton took the time to size her up. Yesterday had been a flurry of nerves, excitement, and new people. He loved to meet new people, but honestly, there were so many emotions and so much to dig through yesterday that he barely got a chance to look a little closer at everyone. 

She was sitting behind her desk, and though it was not very ornate, her very presence seemed to make it feel so. She wore nothing but black, like the day before, and her mask was an eggshell white. It was chipped and worn slightly with use. Today, her hair was braided. 

  
He knew that she had dozens of secrets, hopes, and fears, and the one he knew did almost nothing to help his assessment. ‘Sir.’  _ Who is Sir, and what about him would make him her worst fear?  _ he wondered, biting his lip. Sometimes he hated how vague secrets could be. 

“Patton,” the woman said, and though her tone was neutral, bordering on happy, relief seemed to fall off of her in waves. _ She didn’t expect me to actually show up. _ “Please, sit down.” There was a chair in front of the desk.

“It’s nice to meet you Miss, ah-” Patton ducked his head as he moved to sit. “I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch your name when we first met!”

The woman chuckled at that. “Well, names are dangerous things, you know? You can never be too careful with information.” When Patton gave her a confused smile in response, she continued. “Most people in my line of work simply call me Puppeteer.” 

“Okay,” Patton responded, doing his very best to figure out exactly what he should say in response to this. He’d never met anyone who refused to give him their name before. _ Secrets secrets are no fun… and I know you’ve got a ton. _ “Okie dokie! Puppeteer it is, until further notice.” 

He got the distinct impression that she was grinning. “Rest assured, I did not choose the name.” 

“Still, it’s… nice.” 

She shrugged. “It’s fitting, nothing more, nothing less. Names are nothing but identification, and the one that others have chosen for me suits me better than the one my father gave me.” Animosity. That wasn’t an emotion that Patton felt often.

“Should I call you  _ The Puppeteer,  _ or just  _ Puppeteer,  _ or maybe  _ Miss The Puppeteer?”  _ Patton wondered aloud. 

He was positive she was grinning now. “I’m not particularly attached to one particular, though I will note that none of my business associates refer to me as a Miss. I believe they prefer to think me a man.” 

Patton nodded to himself. “Does Logan know your name?” he blurted out before he could think twice about it. Flushing a bright brilliant red, Patton stopped just short of covering his face. “I’m sorry, that was insensitive,” he amended. 

Still, she only chuckled good naturedly. “Yes, Logan knows my name, same as I know his. In fact, I was there when he chose it. Logan Berry. Cute, isn’t it? He was very proud at the time.” 

Suddenly, the Puppeteer calling Logan ‘Berry’ made much more sense. He’d assumed it was just a nickname. That was exactly the kind of last name a child would choose for themselves. 

Patton grinned a little, trying to imagine the stoic boy ever choosing a last name as adorable as ‘Berry’. “I can imagine,” he lied. “Logan must have been  _ quite  _ young.” 

Puppeteer giggled at that, a welcome sound. People only giggled like that when they were completely at ease and content. “I’ve been living with him since he was five,” she admitted to him, one hand coming up and fiddling with the edge of her braid. “He didn’t have a last name until he was six and a half.” 

If Patton’s mental gauge was correct, Logan was about their age, maybe a little younger. His eyes widened involuntarily. “That’s quite a long time,” he said softly. 

“Indeed.” 

He looked around the room absentmindedly. It was fairly sparse, but the bookshelf to his left was positively overflowing with books. There was a small iphone charging, propped up on one of the shelves. 

“Is there wifi here?” Patton asked. He personally wasn’t very attached to his phone, but he called his parents just to check in at least once a week. Then again, in all of the excitement he hadn’t thought to check his back pocket. He wasn’t exactly sure where his phone  _ was.  _

“Ah,” the Puppeteer said cryptically, and left it at that. 

Patton frowned a little bit. “Your note said that you wanted to discuss important matters with me. Not that hearing about baby Logan and your… name isn’t important, but was there something in particular that you had in mind?”

“Of course,” she responded, before hesitating. Her anxiety spiked just a little bit. “This mask is so very useful for so much, but if you don’t mind, I would love to remove it for this conversation.” 

“Why would I mind?” Patton wondered aloud.  _ Is this weird? This is weird, right? I think this is weird.  _ It had been weird since he’d been kidnapped, but he chose to ignore that part. 

In response, Puppeteer simply raised her hands to her face and removed her mask.  _ Oh.  _

Patton wasn’t sure exactly what he expected, but it certainly wasn’t what he found. Her face was heart shaped, with a long, thin nose and big doe eyes. Her cheekbones were high, and her eyes were the same shade blue of a sunny day. She was also wearing a bit of makeup under her mask, which Patton respected. It was surprisingly unsmudged. 

However, it was less so her face itself that had surprised Patton and more the jagged scar lines running all over it. They looked almost like slashes, criss crossing her cheeks and nose and coming dangerously close to her eyes. 

Puppeteer let out a dry laugh at the look on his face, so much more expressive behind the mask. “Pretty, right? An old friend gave them to me. I paid him back in kind, obviously.”

_ I feel like I’m looking at an entirely different person,  _ Patton thought.  _ What do I say? Is it impolite to comment on them? Should I say something like ‘you’re beautiful anyway,’ or is that the wrong thing to say? I have to choose something to say, the longer I go without saying anything, the more awkward it gets!  _ “It must get sweaty under there, huh?”

Puppeteer laughed again, more genuine. “It does,” she confessed, “but it’s better than having my face out all of the time, for more than one reason.” 

Patton nodded. 

“Now that that’s out of the way, business.” 

“Right,” Patton responded, curiosity spiking. 

“The others don’t trust me.” A statement. 

“They don’t.” 

“How do I fix that?” she asked him, sounding genuinely unsure. 

_ Where do I even start?  _

“Well,” Patton said, a little confused, “None of us know what we’re doing here.”

“I told Logan to tell you-”

“Yes, yes, it’s a matter of life and death, of the utmost importance, and you wouldn’t have done it if you could help it. We know we’re here to do something for you, we just don’t know what,” Patton said, feeling a little rude but being unable to help himself. “You’re keeping secrets left and right, you’ve yanked them out of their homes with no real, tangible explanation, and they’re scared and confused with no one to go to. You don’t tell them anything, of course they don’t trust you.” 

“But you do.” Another statement. 

“I’m... different,” Patton said, shuffling where he sat. “I know that you’re being honest.” 

“You can’t tell when people are telling the truth,” the Puppeteer said with a twitch of her lips. “That’s not a part of your skillset.” 

“Maybe not, but…” Patton hesitated. He wanted to explain the concoction of emotions that people telling lies usually underwent, as well as the distinct  _ feel  _ of someone who desperately needed you to know that they weren’t lying to you, and just how different those two felt, but he honestly wasn’t sure how to put it into words. “I guess it’s your turn to blindly trust me,” he finally said, smiling a little at that thought.  _ Ironic.  _ “I know you’re telling the truth.” 

“Fair enough,” she responded. “Then I suppose I will trust you with this information as well.” There was a brief pause, no more than a breath. “Logan and I need your help in taking out someone who could destroy your lives as you know them, someone who could destroy the world as we know it if he plays his cards right. We need to take him down, preferably for good.” 

Patton froze. “I- I don’t fight,” he said carefully. “I can’t fight.” 

“And Logan and I have accounted for that,” she said quietly. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you and your friend…” 

Patton let out a joyless laugh. “A lot? It’s a lot to ask of me, it’s  _ certainly  _ too much to ask of Virgil, of all people. Especially not after junior year.”

“What do you mean by that?” the Puppeteer asked him, looking him over with calculating eyes. If she had glasses, she might have pushed them up the bridge of her nose. 

“Well, it’s not my place to spill Virgil’s history like milk on the barn floor,” Patton said, suddenly very uncomfortable.  _ What the heck was that metaphor, Patton?  _

“This could be the difference between your friend’s life and death,” the Puppeteer replied softly, also looking uncomfortable. 

Patton felt his insides squick up. He knew he couldn’t stand to lose Virgil, he’d known he couldn’t stand to lose Virgil since his junior year. “It was probably the worst night of our lives,” he replied, wincing as the memories flashed through his head, each one worse than the last. 

_ He’d been up late that night, baking cookies in his kitchen’s little blue oven. He and Virgil had had their first real fight earlier that day, and whenever Patton got upset, he baked. He’d snapped at his best friend, right there in front of everyone, of course he was stressed! The repetitive motions and familiarity of the recipe calmed his frayed nerves. Usually.  _

_ Shame bubbled up in his stomach as he added the first tray of cookies to the oven. His parents had gone to bed a while ago, warning him not to stay up too late (tomorrow was a school day, after all) with a peck to each of his temples. “It’ll be just fine,” his mother had promised him. “I’m sure Virgil isn’t that mad.” _

_ Patton hummed a little louder, trying to block out all of his thoughts, each one worse than the last. He hadn’t meant to snap at Virgil, he’d never meant to snap at Virgil. It wasn’t his fault that Virgil wanted to do some good. Who was he to try and stop him?  _

_ Patton thought back to the conversation itself, the way that Virgil had clenched his jaw and held his head high when he asked Patton whether or not he thought it would be a good idea to actually give using his powers for something a shot. He remembered the way that Virgil’s fists had clenched when Patton had said the obviously incorrect answer, the way his tone had hardened when he’d informed him he was going to try anyway.  _

_ He didn’t want to remember anything past that, didn’t want to remember his own response, panicked and worried and selfish. He didn’t want to remember, but he did. Virgil had snapped back at him again after that and Patton’s heart had sank. It had only escalated from there.  _

_ Patton shivered as he remembered Virgil’s face, right before he had stormed off. He’d looked so betrayed, and Patton hadn’t even gone back. He was a horrible friend.  _

_ The beeping of the kitchen timer startled Patton out of his thoughts. He waited for the cookies to cool and took them off of the tray, repeating the cycle over and over, his thoughts spinning round and round.  _

_ He felt the emotions before he heard anyone knock. It was a blend of panic, horror, grief, and a little something that Patton later learned to identify as Virgil’s own personal blend of self hatred. It was horrible.  _

_ He wrenched open the door before Virgil could even knock, eyes already brimming with tears, apologies already threatening to fall from his lips at the sight of his friend.  _

_ Virgil’s lips were quivering, his eyes were wide and haunted, and his hands were absolutely drenched in blood. Patton could feel his throat seize up as he took in his friend’s shaking form, his apologies dying on his lips.  _

_ “Virgil?” he whispered, his hands beginning to caress the air around his friend, unsure. He didn’t want to touch him but he needed to help him and he didn’t know what would do more harm than good. So he just whispered his name and waited, heart hammering out of his chest.  _

_ Virgil looked up as he heard his name, barely louder than a breath, and the tears in his own eyes cascaded down his cheeks. He looked like he wanted to push himself into Patton’s arms but thought better of it at the last minute, still cupping his hands in front of them like they were burning. “Patton,” he choked out.  _

_ “Whose-?” Patton gestured limply to the entirety of Virgil’s front.  _

_ Virgil just shook his head. “Not mine,” he whispered, voice hollow. “Not mine.”  _

_ As sick as it was, relief flooded through Patton’s entire body. “Come in?” he asked his friend, silently pleading that he would accept his request.  _

_ “Please,” Virgil nodded, stepping shakily inside of Patton’s house.  _

“So Virgil though it would be fun to play hero then, huh?” the Puppeteer said, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. 

“He wanted to help others, yes,” Patton replied, still feeling residual discomfort from that night. “He thought the best way to do that was to… physically fight those who made our town unsafe to live in. It didn’t exactly go as planned.” 

“I’d expect,” she replied, frowning. “The kid doesn’t have any kind of hand to hand combat training.” 

“Well, he took martial arts when he was twelve, but that only lasted for two months,” Patton said, a bit off track. “It wasn’t until I’d helped him clean up that I got any kind of an explanation…” 

_ “You were right,” Virgil whispered from his spot tucked into Patton’s neck. The two of them were curled up on Patton’s couch, huddling underneath one of Patton’s fluffiest blankets. “I should never have tried to do anything like that. I wasn’t ready.”  _

_ “No no, Virgil, I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” Patton murmured, acutely aware of one of his parents moving around upstairs, probably just heading to the bathroom. “I’m so sorry, I never meant to upset you, and if my last words to you had been-” Patton choked back a small sob. “Oh gosh, I’m supposed to be comforting you, oh geez.”  _

_ Virgil just let out a weak chuckle, tucking himself further into Patton’s neck, like the smaller boy could simply absorb him if he pressed himself deeply enough into his skin. Virgil smelled like lavender and that strawberry shampoo that Patton always used, and only faintly metallic. If he closed his eyes and breathed through his mouth, he could pretend it was all just a bad dream.  _

_ Neither of them spoke for a while. Finally, Virgil broke the silence.  _

_ “There was so much blood,” he whispered, and Patton felt him shiver against him, despite the heat of the blanket they were curled up underneath.  _

_ Patton traced circles on the back of Virgil’s hand. “What happened?” he managed to respond, voice barely above a whisper himself. _

_ “I thought I could save her, she- she was being mugged, I think. This man had her backed up in an alley and he had a gun and I thought I could save her,” he whispered, and Patton’s eyes widened as he realized he might have assumed the wrong thing about the situation. “I got between her and the guy.”  _

_ “He didn’t shoot you?” Patton double checked. He’d watched Virgil take off his shirt, he knew there were no bullet holes in his best friend, he just needed to hear the words.  _

_ Virgil just shook his head. “I told him to let her go and he told me to fuck off, so I shoved him. He tried to shoot me, but-” Virgil stopped. “I’m faster than a bullet, Pat. I never knew that.”  _

_ “I wish you didn’t have to know that.”  _

_ “Me too.”  _

_ Patton could feel the regret pouring off of Virgil.  _

_ “I didn’t even think twice, the gun went off and I just moved,” Virgil whispered. “And then she screamed.”  _

_ Patton tightened his grip, trying to hold Virgil together even as he was falling apart in his arms. He could feel hot tears on his nightshirt.  _

_ “The guy got away, I don’t even remember what he looked like.”  _

_ “Oh, honey,” Patton whispered.  _

_ Virgil hissed out a quiet curse. “Patton, I don’t even know what he looked like! I didn’t know what to do. I just sat there and I held her in my arms as she died! I didn’t- I didn’t call the police, or, or an ambulance or anything, I had a phone! I could have called nine one one!” He shivered again. “You were right. I should never have tried to help anyone.”  _

_ “No,” Patton whispered helplessly. There was a tugging in his gut as Virgil’s new greatest fear made itself present.  _

_ “I will never be responsible for someone else’s death again,” Virgil whispered, echoing the fear running through Patton’s head. “Never.”  _

_ Patton frowned and held his friend tighter, wishing he knew what to do to help.  _

“Well that’s a tale and a half,” the Puppeteer said, somberly but still a little too casually for Patton’s liking. “I can see how that could scar a person.”

“But?” Patton prompted. “There’s always a but.” 

She smiled. “There always is… In this case, the but happens to be that there simply is no other option. Virgil will need to use his powers to defend himself against our enemies, or he will need to use his powers under conditions that no human being should ever have to endure.” Her eyes were far away, and Patton got the distinct feeling that she had been forced through those conditions. “Sometimes it’s kill or be killed,” she said simply, her gaze hardening. “You have to decide what’s important to you.” 

Patton’s heart twisted. He said nothing. 

“I don’t know how to talk to children,” she finally admitted. 

He looked at her. 

“You’re all so complex… so confusingly emotional. The only child I’ve spoken to in a long time is Logan, and even he barely qualifies as a child anymore,” she continued. “I suppose you all are qualified as teenagers now… The sentiment is the same. I clearly should have treated you all more like adults from the beginning.”

“How old are you?” Patton asked her, slightly incredulous. He gave her youthful appearance a suspicious once over. 

She chuckled in response. “Older than you, that’s for sure.” 

“Well,” Patton said, “If you say so.”  _ She has no reason to lie about that. And if she’s been looking after Logan since he was a kid, that would make sense.  _

“We call him Sir,” she finally said, breaking the silence. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“The bad man in charge, the one Logan will probably tell you is our main target.” The Puppeteer winced. “I don’t share much. I’m trying to get better at it, but it’s surprisingly difficult to learn for some reason.” She cracked a small grin that suggested at some joke that Patton was not privy to. “Rich guy, his life work deals with genetic manipulation. He’s the one we need to stop from destroying life on this planet as we know it.” 

“Okay,” Patton said. He felt like he should be keeping notes. “Thank you for telling me. Is this…” he let a small smile grace his face, a little inappropriately excited that he actually got to say this phrase unironically, “Is this classified information?” 

The Puppeteer smirked. “It feels good to say it for the first time, huh?” 

He nodded a little. 

“You can tell Virgil and the others this if you feel it will help,” she replied. “Hell, tell them that he was already on his way to collect them if it’ll help get the point across that I had nothing but good intentions in bringing you here.” 

Patton remembered Logan’s words; that they’d been brought there  _ to prevent what others would do with those abilities if they were to fall into the wrong hands.  _ It wasn’t particularly cold in the room, but he shivered. He hadn’t asked for specifications, and he wasn’t particularly sure that he wanted any. 

“There’s so much more,” she told him. “I don’t want to overwhelm you, any of you. If you think the information would be best coming from you, then tell them. If they grow to trust me then I can tell them too. There’s too much information here for one conversation, so it’s best that you ease yourselves in slowly.”

“Like putting just your feet in a cold pool first to let yourself adjust,” Patton suggested. 

“Exactly,” she agreed. “If I had any other choices I wouldn’t have included you kids in this at all.” She shook her head. “But your parents made that choice for you when they accepted his money.” 

“They… consented?” Patton asked, unsure of whether or not he wanted to hear the answer.

She let out a dark chuckle. “They did indeed. Then again, when has something like lack of consent ever stopped my father before?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! There's... a bit to unpack. You guys have been absolutely freaking amazing and I've been grinning so much as i read through all of your sweet comments and theories (I absolutely LOVE reading the theories lol) and I'd just like to say thank you so much! You guys are awesome and I'm doing my best not to reveal anything too very early but dang you guys are all asking the right questions and making it hard on me and I love that. :D
> 
> Stay awesome <3


	6. Logan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have a problem... and that problem is that I keep making these chapters longer and longer
> 
> Anywho, enjoy both the cliche beginnings of a lovely snark filled relationship and a chapter from Logan's perspective. I unfortunately can't write him often (he just knows too much!), so I hope that you enjoy it while it's here! :D

Logan had never felt so frustrated. Sure, he’d bordered on being angry and hurt and upset before, and sure, he’d felt inklings of distasteful feelings when the router needed to be fixed and no one told him or when he went to pick up food and the man behind the counter had gotten their entire two item order incorrect, but he’d never before felt so frustrated over  _ everything.  _

_ Teenagers,  _ he practically growled in his own head, ignoring the fact that he himself was effectively a teenager. 

He’d gone into ‘The Puppeteer’s’ office as soon as he was sure Patton had left it, optimizing his route to include minimum contact with any of his new housemates. 

Her face had brightened the moment she saw him.  _ So she took her mask off to meet with Patton. Interesting.  _ “Ah, Logan!” she exclaimed, excited. 

“Puppeteer,” he acknowledged, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of his thin lips. 

“Shut up, you know you can call me Ellie. You’ve always called me Ellie!” She grinned widely at him. 

“I was very young when I started referring to you by your first name,” he replied smoothly. “I believe it is more professional, now that I technically work for you, to refer to you by your proper title.” 

“Work  _ for _ me?” Ellie snorted. “We’ve had this conversation a million times, little berry. Logan, you work alongside me. In fact, one day, you yourself may even claim my title of-” 

“That’s enough,” Logan said, a little too sharply, putting his hand up in a ‘stop’ motion. “I came to inquire- were there any particular tasks that you would prefer for me to accomplish today, or would I be allowed to retire to my desk and continue my work?” 

“It wouldn’t kill you to hang out with them, you know,” Ellie said, pursing her lips a little bit. 

“I do not understand the nature of that statement.”

“Come on, they’re kids your age! When you were little you always wanted to hang out with kids your age. Now you finally have that chance! You won’t be stuck with boring old me anymore, sitting around in my dusty little house and trying to help me kill my dad!” 

Logan frowned. “It’s hardly dusty anymore. We cleaned recently, because-” 

“Yes, yes, I know. We cleaned because we were having company.” Ellie sighed. “For a genetically modified brainiac, you really can be quite dense.” 

“Well, yes,” Logan responded. “Higher brain density, or rather to be more accurate, volume, is loosely linked with higher intelligence. It’s a compliment to inform me that my brain is quite voluminous, as it has the same effect as telling me that I am, in your words, one smart cookie.” 

“You’re a smartass, that’s what you are,” Ellie said with an eye roll. “Go. Check in on Roman and Remus for me, will you? They’re the only ones that I’m unsure of their opinions about this situation. Report back to me whenever. Don’t be afraid to hang around and socialize.” 

Logan made a face. “You’re sending me to babysit?” 

“I’m sending you to socialize. Friends are good for you. It’s time you make some.” 

Logan made another face. “You’d never talk like this to me around the others.” 

“Yes, but I raised you, so I get a free pass here. Shoo. Have fun.” 

That was how he found himself in their gym, one of the doors farthest from the end of the hallway. The gym was probably the biggest room in their facility, with a naturally higher ceiling and a track lining the edge of the room, it could comfortably fit quite a few more people than would ever be in that facility at one time. 

Why exactly the twins were using the gym was beyond him. The five of them wouldn’t start with their official training for a little bit longer, to “better allow them time to adjust”. That had been Ellie’s idea, not his. He’d started his training young, he didn’t see why they wouldn’t be able to start as soon as possible. Every second that ticked by unutilized was one precious second more lost. 

Logan observed the twins carefully as he walked up to them. They had pulled one of the big mats from it’s spot propped against the wall and appeared to be fighting. Both of them seemed surprisingly sufficient. 

He watched as the more muscular twin, Roman, leapt into the air and planted a sidekick right in the center of his brother’s chest. Logan couldn’t help wincing slightly. A kick like that would cripple anyone else, snap their ribs and possibly puncture their organs. A kick like that could be deadly. 

Remus just laughed, stumbling back a little bit and shaking out his arms before curling his hands into fists. His next punch landed on Roman’s jaw, snapping the other boy’s head back with more power than looked like could ever possibly come from Remus’ skinny form. It really was fascinating to see Roman and Remus’ powers in work.

“Damn, good one!” Roman commented as he put his fists back up, massaging his jaw. 

“You know you’re just complimenting yourself, right?” Remus snickered. 

It was at that moment that the two of them seemed to notice Logan’s presence. They stiffened only slightly, turning to face him with almost guilty looks on their faces. 

“Good afternoon Roman, Remus,” Logan said, tipping his head to them slightly in acknowledgement. “How are you doing?” 

“Oh, you know...” Roman said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “It’s- I’m very, ah-”

“Roman broke one of your weights!” Remus shrieked, before dissolving into giggles. 

“I most certainly did not!” Roman swatted his brother on the arm, looking mortified. “You told me you wouldn’t say anything to him!” he hissed. 

“Changed my mind,” Remus replied cheerfully. “It’s completely disfigured,” he informed Logan, who simply arched one of his eyebrows. 

“It’s a little bent,” Roman muttered. “That’s all.” 

“You warped the metal?” Logan confirmed. At Roman’s guilty nod, he simply gave the teenager a once over. “Impressive,” he replied. 

“You’re not mad?” Remus sounded almost disappointed. 

“Would I have any reason to be?” Logan asked. 

“I don’t know, maybe it was your favorite weight.” Remus shrugged. 

“That’s preposterous, not to mention unreasonably sentimental.” Logan shook his head. “The weights are for your benefit, and besides, not a usual portion of my daily workout. I much prefer cardiovascular exercises to weightlifting.” 

“Makes sense, your arms are like sticks,” Roman said, before realizing exactly what he had said and snapping his mouth shut. 

Logan shot him a look. “Do you even think about what comes out of your mouth before you open it?” 

“Not usually,” Remus helpfully replied for him. 

“Shut up,” Roman muttered. 

“The circumference of my arms is no matter,” Logan said. “I could still easily beat either of you in a physical altercation.”

“No way,” Roman said doubtfully, looking him up and down. Logan shuffled a little under his gaze. “We’ve been doing Tae Kwon Do since we were six.” 

“I assure you,” he replied, “I would not have spoken if I was unsure of my own skill set.” 

“Well then I guess we’ll just have to find out the hard way,” Remus said with a small shrug, though a competitive grin was already crossing his face. Logan was only mostly sure, but he thought he saw his mustache twitch. 

“I suppose we will,” Logan agreed, unsure of why exactly he felt the need to prove himself to the twins. He’d already bested them once, when he had incapacitated them only days ago to save them, any ‘rematches’ would be unnesacary. If he knew he was better than them, why did he care so much? 

“I’ll referee the first match,” Roman offered. “Rules? Let’s lay down some rules.” 

Logan looked over in interest. He liked rules, rules were good. Rules made life easier, gave it structure. He himself operated under a strict code of self imposed rules his entire day, no matter how many times Ellie told him to lighten up on himself. 

“Okay, great.” Roman said, seeming to swell as he felt their attention on him. “The match will start on a countdown, the first person to lay the other one on the mat wins. Don’t leave the boundaries of the mat just in case, we don’t want any accidental injuries. You can do pretty much anything, just be careful. You aren’t trying to kill each other.” The last comment appeared to be directed specifically at Remus. “As per usual, whoever wins the match gets to ask the loser one question, they have to answer truthfully no matter what, blah blah blah.” 

“What? Why?” Logan blurted out, a strange feeling turning in his stomach. 

Roman shrugged, waving his hand around absentmindedly. “Remus and I have always played like that, it adds some extra incentive to winning. Besides, if you’re really as good as you say that you are, I’m sure it’ll be no big deal for you.” 

Oh, that was a challenge. Logan never stepped back from a challenge. “Very well,” he conceded. “It will serve as an extra… incentive.” 

Roman grinned before adding one last rule. “Oh and, uh, no powers.” 

Logan raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Right, scratch that last one.” 

His first match with Remus lasted all of about three seconds. The taller boy bounced twice on the balls of his feet, cocky, before just aiming a quick punch straight to his face. Trivial. 

Logan sighed, sidestepping him in one swift movement and sticking one leg out almost as an afterthought. Remus stumbled past him and tripped over the waiting leg, sprawling on the floor beneath them. In a flash, Logan was turned around and his knee was planted square in the center of the other boy’s back. He couldn’t help the smirk on his face. 

Looking up to meet Roman’s eyes, Logan froze for a quick moment. Roman’s eyes were wide with disbelief, looking almost doe like under the fluorescent gym lighting. “Woah,” the eighteen year old breathed out. 

“How’d you learn to do that?” Remus asked from where he was below him, slightly muffled against the mat. 

Logan chuckled a little. “You lost this match, Prince, so…” he trailed off. “I do believe that I don’t have to answer that. It’s my turn to ask a question.” He stood up, removing his knee from Remus’ back. 

“Lay it on me!” Remus cried, rolling over and sitting up. 

Logan gave him a once over. “Who dyed your hair for you?” he asked.  _ There. Not too personal, not too intrusive, not something I would already know the answer to. There’s no way to get too invested that way.  _

“I dyed it for him!” Roman cut in, eyes sparkling. 

Remus grinned, now getting to his feet. “Ro wanted a test subject before he did his own hair, and I was happy to oblige.” 

“You two do seem to keep a red and green aesthetic,” Logan noted. “Strange.” 

“Is that another question?” Remus teased. “Cause if that’s the case, you’re going to have to beat me a second time…” 

“Very well,” Logan said with a small shrug. “If you wish to repeat your earlier failure, I will not dissuade you.” 

“Cocky,” Remus replied with that same grin. 

The second round went about the same as the first and finished almost as quickly. 

“Fine,” Logan huffed, his knee planted on Remus’ chest this time. “What is the meaning behind your association with the colors red and green?” 

“Well, you see,” Remus grinned, “Back when we were real young and I wasn’t sporting this stunning mustache, Mother dearest had some issues telling us apart. We were sporting the same face, you see. So, the easiest way for her to tell us apart at a glance was to color code.” 

“We just kind of kept with it as we got older,” Roman shrugged. “Though the contacts were a gag gift. We usually only wear them when we see our older sister. They make my eyes itch.” 

Logan squinted. Indeed, Roman’s eyes were no longer the bright green from before, nor were Remus’ the startling and impossible deep red. Instead, they sported the same chocolatey eyes, rich and dark. “Interesting,” he replied tonelessly, more interested than he would be willing to admit. He was sure there was more of a story there, he just didn’t want to figure it out. 

“Fine, enough chit chat, another round!” Remus demanded stubbornly. “I’m going to get to ask you my question!”   
  
“You have to win first,” Roman helpfully reminded his brother. 

The third round didn’t go any better for Remus. Nor did the fourth or the fifth. Logan was starting to run out of non intrusive questions. 

“What style of music do you typically enjoy?” 

“Well Roman over there likes all of it, but I only listen to tuvan throat singing. Oh, and I like nightcore covers of country songs.” 

“Do you have a favorite book?” 

“Sometimes I like to read the word puzzles on the back of the honey nut cheerios box.” 

“When was the last time you went to the movie theatre?” 

“They haven’t let me back since I egged them after they released Cats.” 

Logan honestly had no words for that. Remus may well be the strangest human being he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting.  _ Just my luck,  _ he thought, more curious than grumpy. 

Finally, after a frankly embarrassing number of matches, Roman cut in. “Alright, alright,” he sighed. “I’m tired of seeing you make a fool of yourself, Remus. My turn to fight the nerd.” 

“Judging by the length of your brother’s last matches with me, this next altercation will hardly be able to be defined as a fight,” Logan shot back, grinning and wiping some of his hair out of his face. It was getting relatively hot in the gym and he took a moment to curse summer and the distinct lack of air conditioning in the gym. 

“Please, I’m twice as competent as he is,” Roman replied. 

“Two times zero percent is still zero.” Logan cracked his knuckles, looking lazily over at Roman and-  _ what was he doing? _

Roman had hooked his hands on the bottom hem of his shirt, easily lifting off and discarding the garment to the side. Logan could feel the room get even warmer as he watched Roman flex his shoulders and pull one of his arms into a stretch absentmindedly. 

“You’re looking a little pink there Logan,” Remus said, voice like a viper in the grass. Logan avoided eye contact. He knew if he made eye contact he would see the grin, and that was not something he was mentally prepared to deal with. 

“Well it is becoming quite, ah, sweltering in this room,” Logan mumbled. “Which I assume is the reasoning behind Roman’s,  _ ahem, _ sudden wardrobe change.” 

“It doesn’t bother you, does it?” Roman asked him, sounding a little worried, and Logan made the mistake of looking up and catching his eyes with his own and  _ oh shit.  _ Roman’s eyes were rounded with concern, big and brown and beautiful and Logan realized in that very moment that there were a lot of emotions going through his head right now that he really would rather not be feeling. “I can put it back on if you really want me to.”  _ Well that simply won’t do at all.  _

“Nope,” he croaked out unconvincingly, moving to take his place on his side of the mat.  _ Let’s get this over with. _

Roman moved to his side of the mat, a small frown crossing his face as he looked Logan up and down. “You’re short,” he said. 

_ Ouch.  _

“Have been my entire life, thank you for noticing,” Logan replied, determined not to make eye contact again. He focused on the small indentation in between where Roman’s collarbones met, just under his throat. It was almost perfectly at his eye level anyway. 

“No, like, you’re  _ really  _ short.” Roman frowned. “I thought you were taller than me. Why did I think you were taller than me?” 

Logan sighed, flexing his toes through his socks and gripping the mat. “How about you beat me and find out?” he replied, not quite nailing the cocky tone he was going for. 

Logan was not proud of his actions over the next few minutes. He was clunky and uncoordinated, and his footwork was much sloppier than it had been in several years. Roman was right, he was marginally better than his brother, but nowhere near better enough to justify the fact that Logan suddenly felt like he no longer had the upper hand. 

At one point during their sparring, Roman flicked his head quickly to the side to flip some of his auburn curls out of his face and Logan felt his entire chest seize up.  _ Am I dying?  _ he wondered.

If this was emotion, he didn’t want any. 

Roman had a strange grin on his face. Why was there a strange grin on his face? Logan lowered his defensive stance, turning slightly to protect his center line and bending his knees even more. Roman’s legs were far longer than his, so that meant he had to get in close, eliminate his range and even things up. That was fine, Logan had always been good at playing the short man’s game. He didn’t need to do something fancy, anything quick and efficient would get the job done and then maybe Roman would put his shirt back on and Logan could leave. 

Before he could untangle the slowly growing knot of thoughts in his head, Logan’s entire world went sideways- literally. Roman’s arms were wrapped around his middle and he was falling, his back connecting with the mat with a dull  _ thunk.  _   
  
Taking advantage of Logan’s slightly stunned state, Roman threw his left leg over Logan, keeping his right leg on his other side and effectively straddling him, pinning him to the mat. Somewhere behind him, Remus whooped. 

Roman was smirking down at him infuriatingly, and Logan felt even more blood rush to his face. He’d managed to beat him. 

“Cheater,” he hissed out from under Roman’s weight, despite knowing that that was impossible. 

Roman let out a rumble of a laugh that Logan felt through his entire body, glancing down at him and smirking. “Hardly even a fight, huh? You’re not so hard to beat.” 

“On the contrary my dear brother,” Remus purred from where he was watching. “I’d argue that Logan is  _ extremely  _ hard.” There was a pause during which Logan wished for the floor to open up and swallow him whole. “To beat, hard to beat of course, Remus finished. 

“Whatever. I get my question now!” Roman cheered, pumping his fist in the air. 

Logan sighed, collecting himself. Hopefully the flush had faded from his cheeks by now but with his luck, it most likely hadn’t. “Very well,” he replied, his stomach still doing its best attempt at consecutive somersaults. 

“Tell me why you’re short now!” Roman demanded. 

“That was less of a question there brother, and more of an order,” Remus pointed out. 

Logan sighed once more. “I wear heeled boots,” he mumbled. 

“I’m sorry, what?” Roman said in delight. 

“I am positive that you heard me perfectly fine the first time,” Logan said with a frown. If he had glasses on right now he would adjust them, just to have something to do with his hands. “I wear boots, one of many types of footwear, with heels, otherwise known as wedges. They help me feel tall.”  _ And important. _

“Ah,” Roman said, positively ecstatic. “That’s just lovely.” 

“I had assumed that you would wish to inquire about your situation,” Logan replied, changing the topic. “Why are you more interested in my footwear than your whereabouts?” 

“Something tells me you wouldn’t have told us anyway,” Roman said, frowning a little bit now that their conversation shifted to the topic of their kidnapping. “Besides, Remus wants to stick around anyway to see what happens.” 

Logan blinked at him. “Just like that? You trust us?”

“Hey now, no one said anything about trust,” Roman said, though he was smiling a little bit. “You’ll have to earn that through continued friendship and also just by just not lying to us. But yeah, for some reason he thinks you guys are genuinely trying to do the right thing, if in a bit of an odd, misguided way, and he wants to stick around.” 

“I always listen to my gut,” Remus chimed in, patting his stomach and smiling. 

“You only listen to your gut,” Roman corrected him, twisting to look at his brother and sliding off of Logan, and Logan became suddenly very aware of the lack of weight on his chest. 

“Untrue!” Remus protested. “I also listen to my dick.” 

“Gross, thanks for that,” Roman replied, making a face. 

Logan smiled a little bit.  _ I wonder what it’s like to be able to grow up so trusting,  _ he thought. 

As he walked back to the Puppeteer’s office, he reflected on the whole experience. He didn’t think he’d ever felt so much in such a short span of time, and that was  _ frustrating.  _ Frustration was another feeling! There really was no end to emotion. 

_ He didn’t have these issues before, when it was just him and Ellie. Why now?  _

Logan gritted his teeth as he opened the door, shutting it quietly behind him. As angry as he was, he didn’t want to go through the Safehouse slamming all the doors. That would be entirely unprofessional of him. 

Ellie was still at her desk, watching a youtube tutorial. From the looks of it, it had something to do with alligator wrangling. She looked up when he entered and grinned. “And?” she asked him, closing her computer screen.

Logan frowned slightly. “They are open to trusting us, simply because Roman wants to follow a  _ gut feeling _ that Remus had.”

Ellie let out a little chuckle. “Some of these kids are far too trusting,” she said with a shake of her head. “Still, it’ll make it easier for us to convince them then.”

“Well perhaps if  _ he  _ had kept them around like he’d kept us, they wouldn’t be so quick to trust,” Logan pointed out, running his fingers through his hair. “Besides, you’ll still have your work cut out for you convincing Janus and Virgil that we’re in the right.” 

“Thanks for that reminder,” Ellie grumbled. “Still, that wasn’t at all I meant. How’d it go? Make any new friends? I see you got a workout in, did they try to show off for you?” 

As emotionless as he would prefer to be, Logan couldn’t help the small flush from making its reappearance. “It was… nice.” 

Ellie gasped, pulling one hand to her chest. “No!” she said dramatically. 

“What is so wrong with that?” Logan responded. “I’ve chosen a fitting descriptor for the situation, have I not?” 

“This safehouse is adequate. The eggs and bacon I make for breakfast on special occasions are adequate. The new laptop I  _ acquired _ for you last year is adequate. But hanging out with kids your age was… nice? Could it be… finally… you’ve found something to be a step up from adequate? Could it be that you maybe, just maybe… enjoyed yourself?” 

“You are clearly hyperbolizing to create a dramatic effect,” Logan protested. 

“So what if I am? I’m right!” 

“You have thrown this entire situation too far out of proportion.” 

“Just admit it, you had fun! You had fun with kids your age!” Ellie was grinning at him teasingly. “Come on Berry, just admit that I’m right for once in your life!” 

“I would not make a habit of gloating every time that you believe you’ve done something that aids me,” Logan replied. “I simply meant to relay to you that the interactions were satisfactory and that I completed your task.” 

“Pfft, sure, because I know you definitely weren’t just itching to talk up that ginger boy that we’ve both heard so much about,” Ellie responded, now studying her nails. 

He was definitely flushing now. Emotions were draining. “I’ve just remembered,” Logan said stiffly, “there’s somewhere else that I need to be.” 

Ellie’s laughter followed him down the hall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm... Would you trust the Puppeteer? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	7. Janus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick warning to all you lovelies! This chapter includes some negative talk about a character's body and their own hatred of their body. Usually I wouldn't warn about possible warning/upsetting things since plot, but I just wanted to let you all know that I do not share these views and it is simply a part of the narrative. Okay, continue on. :)

Janus had a plan. Well, to be fair, it was more of an idea. A badly thought out one, sure, but an idea nevertheless. He didn’t trust Logan or his shady employer further than he could throw them, which probably wasn’t very far. He had weak arms. 

What he needed was more information, not from Logan, but from the real reason that they were there. Even if Logan was doing her dirty work for her, he needed to know what the person on top knew about the situation. Surely Logan didn’t know  _ everything.  _ He was probably nothing more than a pawn to her, an inconvenience at worst and a puppet at best. 

He hadn’t meant to, but he was the last one to wake up. Virgil and the twins were in the kitchen when he woke up, eating a variety of different breakfast foods, same as the day before. 

“Let me tell you,” Virgil said to Roman and Remus between bites, “the one good part about this is the free food. College food is crap, even if you go to a school with a good cafeteria. Take it from me.” 

Janus let out a small  _ tsk _ as he walked past them, grabbing his food and sitting in the same seat from yesterday. “Aren’t you worried?” he asked them. 

“About the food?” Roman asked, taking a bite of his own breakfast. “Nope, free food is free food. They already kidnapped us, might as well make the best of this.” 

“You are strangely nonchalant about that part,” Janus noted silkily. “Wouldn’t your parents like to know where you got off to?” 

Roman shuffled awkwardly. “Well yeah, but it’s not like we’re high schoolers anymore… We’re allowed to come and go as we please now, as long as we text or call. Technically...” 

Janus shook his head disbelievingly. “And how are you going to text or call if you don’t have your cell phone?” 

“I don’t know, okay?” Roman said with a small huff. “I don’t know, and frankly, I’d rather not think about it! How about your parents, huh? What’ll they think about your sudden disappearance?” 

“Nothing. They’ll think absolutely nothing of it. They probably won’t even realize I went missing, to be completely honest with you.” 

“That’s horrible,” Virgil said with a small frown. 

“Well, that’s the truth,” Janus said, brushing it off. “They cared enough to have me and that’s about it. Ditched me with my grandmother when I was three. They’ve probably been on a yacht partying for the last fourteen years of my life.”

“Your parents sound like total dipshits,” Remus commented. Janus gave him a tight smile. Remus was trying to be sympathetic. At least, he was pretty sure that’s what Remus wanted to convey. He couldn’t really tell with Remus. 

“Hold up,” Virgil cut in, doing the mental math. “You’re only seventeen?” 

“How old did you think I was?” Janus answered his question with a question.

Virgil paused, eyes narrowing. “Not seventeen,” he said with a sense of finality, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“What, are you going to baby me now?” Janus retorted.  _ Try me, emo. I’ve probably gone through more shit by now than you ever will. _

“No one said anything about that.” Virgil shook his head, standing up and muttering something under his breath. Janus couldn’t be sure what exactly it was, but it sounded like something along the lines of  _ they kidnapped a fucking seventeen year old oh my fucking god.  _ From the little he’d heard from the other boy, that kind of language sounded pretty par for the course.

“Right,” Roman said. “We’re going to go check out the gym.” 

“There’s a gym.” Janus raised one eyebrow. 

Roman just shrugged. “I got a fancy letter suggesting it this morning. Seems plausible. What’s the worst that could happen?” 

“This!” Janus hissed out, gesturing all around them. “Something like this is the worst that could happen. You could be kidnapped, tortured, someone could do away with you and they’d never find the body again! We are in the middle of a worst case scenario  _ right now, _ and you want to go to the  _ gym?” _

There was a beat of silence. “Yup, sounds about right to me,” Remus said with a nod. “Besides, we won’t leave the murder bunker. It’s fine.” 

_ I’m surrounded by idiots.  _

It was fine, he told himself. It would be fine. They’d come around when they realized just how bad this situation was, they had to. Besides, fewer people out and about, fewer people to report seeing Logan out and about, perhaps even in two places at once. 

He walked out of the kitchen area casually, smiling as Patton walked past him, a door clicking behind him as the cheerful boy smiled widely at him. Despite that, Patton looked a little shaken, eyes just a little too wide to be intentional.  _ What could have possibly shaken him up that badly?  _

Janus waited for the right time. Not only had Patton left the office, but Logan also came and went from the same room, walking with purpose and a fair bit of frustration. Janus peeked out from around the corner of the door, taking in Logan’s features as best he could. 

He watched Logan waffle back and forth in front of the gym door helpfully illustrated by the small plaque next to the door itself, labeled ‘gym.’ Finally, though not without a small sigh, he pushed the door open and shut it with a practiced motion. Janus closed his eyes and began to feel for the change. 

Logan was definitely the strangest he’d ever tried to become, if only because of how  _ easy  _ he was to mimic right off the bat. The only person he’d had less trouble with was his grandmother, and he’d had many years of practice shifting to open her door and scare away telemarketers. Logan left a slightly salty taste in his mouth, which was odd as well. 

Janus stretched his legs, taking a moment to enjoy his new inch or two of height and grinning. His nose was longer now, and the patches of discoloration on his own skin had faded. Logan’s hair was a little bit shorter than his own, and a lot thinner. Very interesting. 

He, like Logan, took some time to waffle in front of the closed door. He didn’t want to come in too soon after she’d just dismissed Logan, but he had a lot of questions and he wasn’t sure how long he’d have before Logan would come back. Perhaps he would tire of the Prince siblings quickly. Janus knew that he certainly had. 

Finally, he pushed open the door, deciding on a whim that Logan would refuse to knock. 

The woman at the desk looked up as he walked in and Janus did his best to stifle his gasp.  _ She would be incredibly pretty, _ he thought, _ if not for her scarring. _ That was just speaking objectively of course.  _ I would be pretty too if not for my vitiligo. _ The ever present knife in his chest seemed to twist a little deeper, and Janus cleared any and all emotion from his face. He had to be like Logan right now. Logan didn’t feel anything, at least not outwardly. 

She gave him a once over and Janus couldn’t help but stiffen a little bit as her sharp gaze crossed over him. Finally, she relaxed a little, seemingly accepting his ruse. If he’d felt any safer, Janus would have let out the breath that he was holding. 

“Logan,” she said with a small smile, “You’re certainly back soon. How were Roman and Remus?” 

Janus huffed slightly, leaning heavily on his role. “Irritating,” he responded truthfully. 

She frowned a little. “And I assume they had questions for you?” 

“Yes. Several.” Logan’s voice wasn’t that much deeper than his own. 

“Well then,” she replied, “Lay ‘em on me, kid.” 

Janus wracked his brain.  _ Where to even start?  _ “They want to know how long we’ll be keeping them here,” he finally settled on. “That question appeared to be the most pressing. Is there a certain answer that you would prefer me to tell them?”  _ The truth, perhaps?  _

“Oh, you know,” she just said, waving her hand. Janus waited for her to elaborate. “Yeah, you know.” She nodded. “As long as we need them to be here, for the safety of themselves and others.” 

Janus nodded slowly.  _ That’s incredibly unhelpful.  _ He tried again. “They also said they wanted to know what we would do with them.” 

Her gaze was seriously unnerving. Janus resisted the urge to shuffle awkwardly from foot to foot. That was a Janus habit, not a Logan habit. “You know we’ll be explaining that to them soon. Just tell them whatever you think they want to hear until then.” Her gaze turned elsewhere as she became lost to thought. 

“Right.” Janus’ heart sank. 

  
Finally, she looked back up at him. “I assume they wanted to know  _ where  _ exactly we are too, yes?” 

“I’m allowed to tell them that much?” Janus asked her disbelievingly. 

“Well, a certain someone told me that you have to keep fewer secrets if you want to be trusted,” she said, now examining her nails. “You’re allowed to tell them.” Janus was already nodding when her small smile turned downward. “Of course, that would be a little difficult, considering the fact that you currently have no clue as to our exact whereabouts and would prefer to keep it that way,  _ Logan.”  _

_ Oh shit.  _

“Come on,” she said with a small laugh. “You seriously didn’t think you could fool me, did you? I know him far too well for that, Janus. Drop it.” 

Janus let his illusion fade, shell shocked. “How did you know?” he asked her quietly, avoiding eye contact. Her eyes, like Logan’s, had a tendency to see right through a person. 

“Oh, I knew from the moment you walked through the doors,” she informed him, tapping the skin right under her eyes. “Glasses.” 

Janus frowned. “He went to the gym,” he protested. 

She shook her head. “Logan is very particular about when and where he wears his glasses. If he needs to read, they’re on. If he’s going to the gym, he takes them off, yes, but as soon as he finishes his training he puts them back on, no matter what. He wears them when he showers and he wears them when he sleeps.”    
  


Janus stared at her. 

“He doesn’t like feeling vulnerable. Always having his glasses means that he never needs to feel like he needs help to do things, especially nothing as simple as reading. I think it’s a comfort thing.” 

_ Why doesn’t he just get contacts?  _

“How do you even know that stuff?” Janus asked her, making a weird face.

She just stared right back at him. “Because he’s been doing it since he was five. I live with him. You pick up on these kinds of things.” 

Janus nodded slowly. 

Her eyes were cold, calculating, thoughtful. That last part was the part that didn’t sit well with him. “We were never properly introduced. My colleagues call me Puppeteer, and my friends call me Ellie.” 

Janus’ tone was sharp. “Well I am neither of those.”

“No…” she looked him over with a small frown. “I suppose you aren’t.” 

Janus frowned right back at her, changing the topic. “I understand the names, but the mask? Why do you feel the need to hide from the world?” 

“Why do you feel the need to shift your form every time you leave the house?” She responded, smiling sadly. “You aren’t the only one who hates their appearance, Janus.” 

“I don’t hate my-” the words got stuck in his throat. He felt his eyes flick guiltily to the floor. 

_ He was nine again, waiting in line with the other kids to be chosen for soccer teams, bouncing on the balls of his feet. His grandmother had been taking him to soccer lessons all summer and he couldn’t wait to play.  _

_ The kid to his left was the first one chosen. Her name was Martha and she wore her hair in a long, shiny ponytail every day. She sauntered over to team one with a practiced smile on her face.  _

_ The two teams alternated who got to choose, kids on either side of him being chosen one after the other, until only he remained. Janus looked up in confusion at his teacher.  _

_ “Alright kiddo, since there are an odd number of kids, you’ll just go with team one, okay?” the gym teacher said with a small, fake smile. He pointed over to the group of kids and nudged him over in their direction.  _

_ “I don’t want Janus on our team, Mr Lester!” One of the girls exclaimed, one of Martha’s friends. She was staring at him with a slightly disgusted look. “His face looks all weird. Besides, we’re good with who we have.”  _

_ “Well we don’t want him over here either!” One of the boys on team two protested, some kid named Brandon. “Why should we get stuck with him?”  _

_ “Now kids, that’s no way to treat a fellow classmate,” their teacher reprimanded them sharply, but the damage had already been done. “Apologize to your friend.”  _

_ Janus took one step back from the teams of kids, then another. His heart was twisting in on itself and tears were already stinging the corners of his eyes. Biting his lip nervously he glanced around and around for the door out of the gym. He didn’t want to be here anymore, he didn’t want to have to look at any of his perfect classmates and know exactly what they thought about him.  _

_ He looked up at his gym teacher as the tears began to spill down his cheeks. “They aren’t my friends! I don’t wanna be on their stupid teams anyway!”  _

Janus was many things, but a fool wasn’t one of them. He knew when he was beat. However, he couldn’t be the only person in this safehouse who thought that the Puppeteer was untrustworthy. He’d have to do some recon. 

His recon consisted mostly of arguing loudly with the Prince twins over dinner. 

“Come on, you can’t be serious!” Remus cried. 

Janus just stared at him wearily. “I am dead serious. I don’t think I could be more serious if I tried.” 

“Necktie,” Logan suggested, before taking another bite of his lasagna. 

“You don’t see anything, and I mean  _ anything  _ at all about this situation that’s even mildly sketchy?” Janus asked him in disbelief. “Or, oh, I don’t know… any _ one  _ who seems a little bit sketchy?” He aimed a pointed look at Logan. 

“Not really,” Roman said, shaking his head and taking another bite of his own dinner before turning to Logan himself. “He didn’t mean to be insensitive, Specs, don’t take it personally.” 

“No, I very much did intend to be insensitive!” Janus practically howled. “He’s sitting at the table eating dinner with us for Christ’s sake! None of this strikes you as weird?” 

“You know, funny enough my answer  _ hasn’t changed since you last asked me twenty seconds ago,”  _ Roman shot back, rolling his eyes. “The dude needs to eat dinner somewhere.” 

“No, I’m with Janus on this one,” Virgil said quietly, shooting the Prince siblings disbelieving looks. “We should probably all be a little more worried about this. This isn’t normal.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Remus cut in, “How many kidnappings have you been a part of, Virgin? Who are you to make the call on what’s normal?” 

Logan stared at him in confusion. “I wished to move you to a secondary location and so I did. This was my normal, was it not yours?” 

“What kind of a childhood did you have?” Janus asked him desperately. “Why do you think that’s okay?” 

Logan shrugged noncommittally. His mouth was full of food. 

“Idiots, I’m surrounded by idiots…” Janus muttered, resting his head in his hands before reconsidering. “Idiots… and Virgil.” 

“Thanks, I think.” 

Patton let out a sort of nervous laugh. “Come on guys, I really don’t think they would have…” he notably paused, a weird kind of look crossing over his face for a moment, “...forcibly relocated us if there wasn’t a really good reason.” 

“You’ve been saying that all day and funny enough, I still don’t believe you.” Janus rolled his eyes. “Who knows what their reasoning for moving us was? None of us, that’s for sure!” 

There was a beat of awkward silence.

Roman spoke up. “Logan knows.” 

Everyone turned to look at Logan, who was currently adjusting his glasses absentmindedly. He looked to meet their stares and said in a flat tone, “Ah.” 

“Nothing? No good reason?” Janus asked him. 

“It was better than the alternative.” 

“Which is?” 

“Classified.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.  _ No one says stuff like that anymore!” _

“Well clearly Logan does. Come on kiddos, let’s all settle down, hmm? Okay?” Patton winced as both Logan and Janus glared at him. 

“Why don’t you shut your trap, huh?” Janus spat out, perhaps a tad unkindly. “You’ve been nothing but supportive of this whole thing, despite how anxious it’s making your friend. Take some time to reevaluate what  _ actually  _ matters to you.” 

“Hey, I might be on your side here but don’t you dare talk like that to him!” Virgil shot back, practically snarling. 

“Words hurt, kiddo,” Patton just said, glancing away from him guiltily. 

Janus chose to focus on Virgil, who was now all up in his face. “Oh please, just because you want to fuck him doesn’t mean you need to prioritize his wants over yours!” 

That may not have been his first mistake of the evening, but it was certainly his worst. Virgil stood up so quickly that Janus could have missed it had his eyes not been locked onto Virgil’s own. In a heartbeat the older boy was shoving him out of his seat and onto the floor, eyes murderous. 

Janus winced as the air was knocked out of him, and several things happened at once. 

Patton let out a sharp cry of alarm. 

Roman and Remus jumped out of their seats, most likely to attempt to help. 

Virgil made to move to him again, most likely to punch or hit him.

And Logan? Logan simply reached out and curled his slender fingers around Virgil’s wrist, made easy simply because his arm was already pulled back, fist closed and ready to attack. 

Everything came to a stop. Logan’s voice was sharp. “That is  _ enough, _ all of you. If you don’t trust me or my employer, that is fine, but fighting amongst yourselves like children is no way to act, especially not at the dining table. At least have the decency to  _ pretend  _ that you understand how to react to situations in a mature and adult fashion.” He dropped Virgil’s wrist like it had burned him, stalking away from the table. 

Patton had moved to stand next to Virgil, taking the hand that Logan had dropped. Virgil shrugged out of his friend’s grip and, with one last withering stare at Janus, followed Logan out the door. 

It was at that time that Ellie, or Puppeteer, or whatever she was calling herself now, made an appearance, mask still donned. 

“I presume Logan has sent you,” Janus drawled, as much as one could drawl lying flat on his back in the middle of the floor, “Since we were all acting like such children. Tattling, very mature of him…” 

Ellie cocked her head to the side, clearly illustrating her confusion. “Logan doesn’t tell me anything, I’m lucky if I get three words out of the kid. Whatever problems you guys are having are your own to work out. I get it, being a teenager is tough. I just dropped by to tell you all to please meet in the gym tomorrow at ten, we’re going to be doing something very important.” 

“But we don’t have alarm clocks,” Patton chimed in, looking a bit anxious. 

_ Aww, not an early riser?  _ Janus internally rolled his eyes. 

“Alarm clocks have been provided,” the Puppeteer replied cheerfully. “I will see you all tomorrow!”

Remus waved to her as she left. “Goodbye, whoever you are!” 

“I can’t believe this.” Janus felt like he was trying to balance twenty pound weights on his shoulder blades. He felt so tired. “I guess I’ll be seeing you,” he said to the group with as much disgust as he could manage, and then he, like Logan and Virgil before him, walked through the kitchen door and down the hallway to his own room. 

As he changed into his pajamas, Janus looked over, spotting a little black alarm clock on his bedside table. Unintentionally, his lips twisted into a sneer and he turned out the lights, leaving only the slightly red glow from the digital clock itself illuminating his skin. 

He’d deal with his issues later. For now, sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I say this like every single note but thank you thank you thank you for being so freaking amazing and awesome and sweet and did I mention awesome? Your kudos and comments make my day and I hope you're having a lovely week! <3
> 
> Whose side of the argument are you on?


	8. Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days? Who am I...
> 
> Anywho I had so much fun writing the beginning of this chapter.

The one biggest benefit to a good kidnapping, in Roman’s professional opinion, was that he no longer had to share a bedroom with his brother. Don’t misinterpret, he loved Remus dearly, but what he did not love dearly was listening to Tuvan throat singing at three in the morning and waking up to find that Remus had dyed all of their socks brown using some mystery liquid dripping down their wall. 

He wasn’t supposed to share a room with Remus in the first place, but then again, one of them wasn’t technically supposed to exist. He wasn’t sure how his parents were unaware they were having twins until pretty much the last moment, but seeing as he was the second twin to come out of the womb, he was incredibly grateful that they’d noticed in time. 

Roman hadn’t slept this well in ages, and that probably said more about Remus than about his undersized reaction to being kidnapped. At this point, getting to wake up when the alarm went off and not three hours beforehand because Remus forgot he had mice in his pocket and they’d chewed through his mattress again was a refreshing change. 

Roman turned the loud beeping off with a big smile and rolled off of his completely unchewed mattress. Today was going to be a good day. 

The events of the night before flitted across Roman’s mind and he banished them with a shake of his head. He was not going to touch that argument with a thirty five and a half foot long pole. Today they would get to work out and maybe, possibly, show off. He could hardly wait. 

He skipped to breakfast, grabbing an apple and nodding politely at Janus. The seventeen year old had graduated from tea sometime between the day before and right now, and was chugging his cup with the sort of reckless abandon that usually only possessed college students with eight and a half hours left before their term paper was due. 

“You know that’s caffeinated, right?” he asked the younger boy in amusement as he watched him go for a refill. 

Janus nodded furiously. “That’s the point.” 

Roman just snorted. Caffeine right before exercise? At least in his experience, not a good combo. “It’s your funeral, kid.” He carried on his way, grinning at Patton as he slid past him and into the kitchen. 

Virgil and Logan were already in the gym, standing around in that semi awkward way that two introverts who don’t know each other at a party do. All they were missing now were red solo cups filled with sprite. 

_ Well, no time like the present to make new friends and smooth over the events of last night.  _

“I thought I’d be the first one here!” Roman exclaimed loudly as he walked up to them. “I’m ten minutes early!” 

Logan rolled his eyes at him. “Since I have been informed that I am to ‘run’ this class, I have been up since five thirty this morning working to finish my extra work and procure lesson plans. Even now I fear that I am not quite prepared, as I would have preferred to know this information a full week to a week and a half in advance. Alas…” He sighed. 

Roman raised an eyebrow at the other boy before turning to Virgil and sharing a look with the tall teen. “Alright so that’s his story, what’s your excuse?” he asked, trying to coax some conversation out of him. 

“Anxiety. Couldn’t sleep, worried about being late.” Virgil’s words were clipped, and even now as Remus walked through the doors to join them his eyes were flicking from left to right. There appeared to be only one entrance and exit to the gym.  _ That’s gotta be a fire hazard... _ The bags under his eyes had seemingly grown as well. 

“Ah, overcompensation, my brother knows that fair maiden well,” Remus announced, grinning and putting his elbow on Roman’s shoulder, standing on tiptoes. “What’s up, dorks?” 

“Shut up!” Roman laughed, shoving his brother off of him. “Did you even eat yet? I didn’t catch you in the kitchen.” 

  
Remus shrugged. “Naw. Helps me stretch better, you know? Nothing sloshing around.” He patted his stomach happily. 

“Gross,” Virgil informed him, pursing his lips and nodding. Remus blew him a kiss. 

“Did you sleep well?” he asked Logan, who looked quite surprised that Roman was even addressing him. 

“I apologize?” 

“No need.” Roman waved it off. “I was simply wondering how you slept. Someone like you surely needs no beauty sleep, not when you already look like that.” He smiled charmingly at Logan, who seemed to need a moment to process that.  _ Roman, what are you doing?  _ he asked himself. 

“I was asleep within fourteen minutes of resting my head on my pillow and achieved REM sleep for an adequate portion of my night so, yes, I would say that my sleep was satisfactory.” Logan nodded to himself. “And you? Did you as well… get your beauty sleep?” 

Behind them, Remus had struck up a conversation with Virgil, most likely talking his ear off about opossums. Roman was convinced they were his spirit animal. 

Roman laughed, focusing back in on his own conversation. “If I didn’t know better Specs, I’d say you were trying to flirt with me,” he said in a lower voice, only for Logan to cock his head in confusion.  _ Roman, STOP.  _

“Was that not the question that you just asked me?” Logan asked him, already flushing lightly, though from embarrassment or confusion Roman couldn’t quite tell. “I was simply attempting to engage in small talk as you appeared to wish, although if my attempts were unsuccessful, we may simply cease this useless, unnecessary communication.” 

“I- what?” Roman blinked. “Uh…”  _ Nice going. Idiot.  _

But Patton and Janus had walked through the doors, distinctly not looking at one another, and the mood was gone, shattered into a million tiny pieces. Not that Logan hadn’t already been in the process of breaking it himself. 

Logan frowned at the two of them even as they came to stand in the odd little circle that they had formed in the middle of the gym. “Good morning,” he addressed them, sounding completely indifferent about the state of the morning. “Today is a lovely day.” 

“Good morning Mr Berry,” Roman recited back, using the cadence of a bored middle school class. Remus snickered from behind him. 

“Now, you may be wondering why I’ve gathered you here,” Logan said, clasping his hands together. Indeed, Roman was wondering. “One of the reasons that we brought you to the Safehouse was because we found intel that there were others out there who wished to use your enhanced abilities to further their own goals. Now that we’ve effectively removed you from harms way and given you a bit of time to adjust, there really is no time to lose.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Roman spoke up, watching Logan’s piercing blue eyes flick up and down his body before he continued on. 

“There’s no other way around it, if you hope to survive and remain as you are, with your willpower remaining your own, you must learn to use your powers in a defensive capacity. Or at least, you must learn some basic defensive skills.” Logan sighed. “I have  _ apparently  _ been selected to lead you through the first bit of general conditioning and training.”

“Wait, so you’re making us exercise?” Virgil asked him, sounding more than a little horrified. 

Logan turned his icy gaze on the taller boy. “Yes, Mr Sinclair. I know that exercise probably does not qualify as ‘the norm’ for kidnappings, would you prefer we waterboard you instead? Perhaps I could string you up on the rack, or shove bamboo underneath your fingernails. You know, whatever  _ normal _ kidnappers do for fun.” 

Virgil colored slightly. “It’s whatever,” he said, just as icily. 

Roman frowned. 

“Now,” Logan said, sounding as though he’d rehearsed lines in the mirror. “I already know of Remus and Roman’s background in Tae Kwon Do, do any of you have backgrounds in sports, particularly self defense based ones, such as martial arts?” 

Patton shook his head. 

“I’ve also been doing football for almost seven years now,” Roman said, doing his best not to puff out his chest and naturally deflating a little when Logan nodded absentmindedly, turning to look down the line.

“Lacrosse,” Remus said with a grin. 

“I was on the track team in high school,” Virgil offered, still sounding bitter.

“I have had experience running from several different forms of law enforcement,” Janus replied, investigating his fingernails closely. “My record is spotless and I’ve never been caught.” 

“Great,” Virgil said. “We’re living with a criminal.” 

‘Several different forms of law enforcement?” Patton whispered, stepping a little further from Janus and a little closer to Remus. Roman bit his tongue before he could advise the other boy that he was probably safer standing next to Janus then his brother. 

“While impressive, that kind of example is unfortunately not what I was looking for.” Logan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Janus, we’ll have to compare numbers later. At least that will help with the cardiovascular portion of today’s exercise regiment.” 

“We’re running today?” Remus asked, curious but not necessarily dissuaded.

“Indeed. Take a couple of minutes to stretch, and then when you feel adequately ready, join me over by the start of the track.” Logan turned back to the group. “Virgil, you’ll be running with me.” 

Roman watched as Vigril’s eyes narrowed. “Why.” 

Logan simply flexed his fingers at the other boy.  _ Ah, Virgil’s super speed.  _

“I’m not holding hands with you,” Virgil told him. 

“That is really unfortunate, seeing how it’s not your decision,” Logan informed him, gritting his teeth. 

“You won’t be able to keep up,” Virgil warned him. “I’m in fairly good shape.” 

Logan just laughed again and Roman was brought back to the day before, when he himself had said the same exact thing. That brought a small smile to his face. “I believe I will be able to manage adequately,” Logan simply replied. “Especially since you will be lacking your usual… advantages.” 

Virgil scowled, but moved to stand next to the shorter boy anyhow. “My legs are as long as your entire body,” he hissed out. 

“Hyperbole,” Logan hissed back. 

They ran a half mile, or so Logan told them. It was only twice around the track, and went about as well as Roman had expected. Logan and Virgil, even with Virgil’s reflexes dampened, quickly surged into the lead. It was clear that the taller boy was trying his best to shake Logan, but the shorter took two strides to every one of Virgil’s. Roman thought back to his conversation with the shorter boy the other day. 

_ “I much prefer cardiovascular exercises to weightlifting.”  _

Yeah, that made sense now. 

Remus and he used to run together during their respective sports seasons, so they fell into a fairly reasonable rhythm together, syncing up and finishing their half mile only a couple of seconds behind Virgl and Logan. 

Janus was the next to finish, though his cheeks were significantly pinker than before they had started and his left hand was ghosting over the area just above his hip.  _ Sidesticker,  _ Roman guessed. It made sense, if you hadn’t fled the law in a while you were bound to be a bit out of practice. 

Patton was last, the only one of the bunch that hadn’t ever really had any sports experience prior to this. It made sense, and Roman cheered him on as he crossed the finish, giving him a fistbump and clapping a couple more times. Patton’s relieved smile at his support was bright enough to power a small city. 

They did some basic weightlifting, thankfully not using the weight that Roman had slightly crushed, and Logan demonstrated a couple of the motions for them before telling them how many reps and sets they should be doing. For someone who preferred running, Logan could lift some serious weight. Roman felt himself relax as he fell into the same familiar rhythm they had for football, and beside him he could feel Remus doing the same. 

Why Logan’s safehouse had a track and weightlifting equipment but not any windows was beside Roman, but he decided that he really shouldn’t dwell too much on it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Virgil nervously flitting around Patton as he tried to use his bench press, struggling a little bit to lift just the bar, no weights attached. He smirked. Virgil was acting like an anxious mother hen. 

He wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed, just that he was hot and sweating a little bit and he felt  _ amazing.  _ Roman had shrugged his shirt off again, and if that was completely unrelated to how warm it was and had everything to do with Logan being in the room, Roman sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to admit it. 

He also wasn’t going to admit that he was a little disappointed that Logan had opted to hold hands with Virgil for the run, but wasn’t coming anywhere near him and Remus while they were working with weights.  _ Unfair.  _ He tried not to sulk.

Remus, having endured years of Roman’s shit, rolled his eyes, leaning in to whisper in his ear. “Stop it, you’re gonna give the poor kid heart palpitations. I don’t think he’s ever seen another shirtless human before.” 

Roman just shoved his brother off of him, rolling his eyes right back at him. “It’s hot in here,” he protested innocently. “Am I no longer allowed to let myself cool down when I feel warm?”

Remus let out a half laugh, turning back to his dumbbell. “You’re a fucking idiot and you’re in denial.” 

“Words hurt,” Roman replied with a grin, echoing Patton from last night. 

Eventually, Logan’s employer dropped in. Her hair was in two french braids today, and she waved at all of them before walking over to join them. 

“Oh good,” Janus bit out, “The woman of the hour. Just who I was hoping to see. May you please kindly tell us  _ why the fuck your lackey is making us lift weights?”  _

“I’m sorry, would you prefer we waterboard you?” She asked, and Logan started furiously shaking his head at her. “Really, Logan? You already used my line?” She sighed. “Whatever. Yes Janus, I will tell you why I had Logan help you with lifting weights. In fact, I’ll probably tell you all a lot more information than you probably want to be told.”   
  


“I sincerely doubt that,” Janus muttered. 

“Storytime!” Patton just whispered excitedly. Next to him, Virgil frowned, his own weights discarded. 

“Where to start?” she muttered, deliberating, then, “Ah.” 

Logan moved to stand on her right side, brushing his hair back out of his face. He’d barely broken a sweat, though his face was a little pink. 

“My name is Ellie, though I am known to the vast majority of the people that I work with as the Puppeteer. Just to clear everything up, I was the one who sent Logan to collect you, and I am the reason that you’re all lifting weights.” She aimed that last part at Janus. “Now, I know that Logan’s been telling you for days now that us bringing you here was better than the alternative, but I’m sure none of you want to hear that anymore.” 

“No shit, Sherlock,” Virgil muttered, crossing his arms. 

“The real reason I’ve brought you all here is because we found out that someone else is looking to collect you again, someone who would do almost anything to find you again and take you back.” Ellie sighed. 

“So what are we to you, huh? Ransom?” Janus looked angry. “Are you planning on selling us to them and making some quick money of your own? Easy peasy, just a quick kidnapping, right? Is that your game?”

“Of course not.” Ellie frowned, looking genuinely disturbed by the idea. “I guarantee, no matter how horrible you find your conditions here to be, they are infinitely worse with  _ him.”  _

“Oh please, kidnapping is kidnapping,” Janus snorted. 

“How would you like to be treated like a test subject?” Logan cut in, and Roman looked at him in alarm. Since he’d been forcibly relocated, he’d seen Logan frustrated, bored, irritated, and fed up. Not once had he ever heard Logan use  _ that  _ tone of voice before. Logan looked angry, like he was at odds with the world, and he was directing every single ounce of that anger in Janus’ direction. 

“I-” Janus faltered at that. 

Ellie’s fists were clenched in annoyance. “There wasn’t enough time to explain when he was coming for them,” she muttered. “Now that there is enough time  _ none of them  _ are listening.” 

Janus had opened his mouth again, but Patton let out a huff, cutting him off. “Guys, I think we really should listen to her,” he said. “She’s not trying to hurt us.” 

“I’m with Patton on this one,” Roman said hesitantly. “She hasn’t tried to hurt us… yet.” 

Ellie sighed. “It’s hot in here, I’m taking off my mask. Nobody scream,” she advised. 

“Why would we-?” Roman faltered. “Ah.”  _ That makes sense.  _ Finally, he smiled. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.” 

“We just learned her name like five minutes ago,” Virgil pointed out. 

Roman waved him off. “Yeah yeah, I get it. Just roll with it, emo nightmare.” 

Ellie smiled at them. “Let’s start over a little bit. Clearly, I’ve been going about this all wrong. Hi, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Ellie.” She gave them a small wave. ‘Where I come from, information is in high demand, and it can be dangerous. Secrets are traded for favors and you can never tell who might stab you in the back. Clearly, that can’t be how this works with you guys. That’s not how you operate. So.” She cracked her knuckles. “Who wants to know how they got their powers?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, this chapter ended early because there was actually too much, so you guys will get two Roman chapters in a row! :D
> 
> Fun fact #2: when we weightlifted for field hockey I couldn't bench press more than the bar for like a freaking year before I added any weight onto it, I fully understand Patton's struggle here.


	9. Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you guys ready for this? You aren't ready for this. I toyed around with wording on this until my eyes bled, so have at it. 
> 
> I jokingly refer to this chapter as chapter eight and a half, but it's actually longer than the first "half"

“Ian Bates is a college student living in New York city in 1987,” Ellie starts off, sighing and crossing her arms. “He is where our story starts.”

Roman resisted the urge to sit criss cross applesauce and scoot closer to her, as though he were a kindergartener being read to during storytime. 

“You see, when Ian graduates college, he doesn’t have much going from him, apart from his groundbreaking work with biological modification of human DNA. Apart from that, he’s a pretty average guy. Brown hair, average build, a little on the skinny side if you want to get really specific. He’s been dating the same girl since his sophomore year of high school, but he doesn’t really want to marry her. No hobbies, no pets, no relatives he considers himself close to.” 

“What does Ian have to do with our story?” Patton asks her then, clearly doing his best to connect the dots. They’d asked for answers, and this certainly wasn’t what they’d expected. 

Ellie turned to look at him sadly. “Because, he’s the one who modified your DNA. He’s the reason that you have your enhanced abilities.” 

Janus cracked his knuckles absentmindedly. 

“As he graduates college, an organization reaches out to Mr Bates. They call themselves  _ Rise,  _ and they’ve taken an interest in his life’s work. They want to work with him, help his dreams come true.” Her tone became bitter. “They wanted to create superweapons.” 

Remus gasped dramatically. When they all turned to look at him, he at least had the decency to duck his head apologetically. “Sorry, sorry.” 

“Well, Ian never said no to free money, and they offered him funding, lab equipment, whatever he needed to make his dreams a reality. He began working for them immediately, rising to fill their chief scientist’s newly empty spot as he brought valuable insight to the team. He began his work immediately, becoming estranged from everyone in his life, even his girlfriend. Not that he really cared about her in the first place.” Ellie shook her head. “It’s a miracle she didn’t break up with him.” 

Roman furrowed his brows. He was a romantic by nature and he loved to see the good in everyone, but staying with someone so closed off for so long just seemed cruel to yourself. He would never want to be in a relationship where he felt like an outcast. 

“He worked on creating superhumans all day, she stayed in his rundown apartment and cooked and cleaned and doted on him.” Ellie’s smile turned brittle as she continued, “But lo and behold, a year or two later the couple found out a little something that was supposed to change their lives. Ian’s girlfriend was pregnant.” 

At that, Roman had to muffle a small gasp of his own.  _ That poor child.  _

“Well, you’d think an event like that would really mean something, but he didn’t care. She could keep the kid if she wanted to, but he didn’t need another distraction, he already had her to deal with.” 

Roman winced.  _ Your relationship should never be a burden.  _ Relationships were supposed to be light and fun, filled with laughter and shared smiles and soft words whispered between gentle kisses. He knew all of this because that’s what his relationships felt like, that’s what his parent’s relationship felt like. They were supposed to just feel  _ right.  _

“I grew up in a broken household.” Ellie stated the sentence as a fact, pursuing her lips slightly. Beside her, Logan looked almost angry. “I didn’t see Dad much, and when I did his tone was clipped and he never spared more than a couple moments indulging my childhood whimsy. However, it wasn’t until I was about ten that Dad actually had his first breakthrough.” She took a moment. “That breakthrough was all of you. Well, technically I think Logan was the very first of you guys. He  _ was _ the oldest of the six of you.”

“I think I would remember if some strange man experimented on me when I was ten,” Virgil pointed out. “I lived a pretty weird childhood, but  _ that  _ I would remember.”

Ellie was already shaking her head. “There you go, assuming that I’m the same age that you are. You see, Dad had found out that the reason none of his past experiments worked half as well as he wanted them to was because of their  _ age.”  _

Janus inhaled sharply. 

“His subjects were too old, their brains were already too developed. They rejected the foreign modifications. Dad paid your parents off to poke around in your genetic makeup and add his own personal flare. His first successes in decades, and he had to send you back to your families on a technicality of the contract that they signed.” 

“Why would they sign something like that in the first place?” Patton sounded hurt. 

Ellie looked at him with her big eyes, pity slowly filling them. “Money is money, Patton. He targeted people he knew would need it. In Roman and Remus’ case, they simply didn’t know that they would be having a second child. For Virgil, there were too many kids in too small a house. His family was spending money hand over fist already. Janus’ parents had always been just barely scraping by, but instead of putting that money toward their child’s future, they used it for themselves. They were greedy.” 

“What about me?” Patton asked her quietly. 

“No one really knows what happened to your birth parents, Patton.” Ellie sounded like it broke her heart to tell him this. “We combed through all the records, Logan did all sorts of digging around. They just… disappeared. They took you back and then they were gone.” 

Roman bit his lip. Patton looked absolutely destroyed for a second, and then… his expression smoothed out and he nodded his head slowly. “Okay,” he said quietly. Then again, louder, like he was convincing himself. “Okay. Thank you.” 

Remus leaned over to his brother. “Thanks for being the reason that Mom thought she had to send us off to be experimented on so that she could pay for our college,” he said, a wide grin on his face. “You’re like the worst twin ever.”

“Shut up,” Roman grumbled, shoving him the way he usually did but feeling a bit hollow. He attempted to grin back. “How do you know it’s not you who was the unintended child?” 

Remus stopped for a moment. “I came out first,” he replied. 

“Only by a couple of minutes!” Roman frowned.  _ Besides, I came out of the closet first, what does the order of coming out matter? _

“That’s what you’re focusing on?” Virgil asked them disbelievingly. “You find out that your parents got paid to have you experimented on by a psychopath to turn you into a superweapon and  _ that’s _ your main worry?” 

“Hey now, let’s all be a little nicer, this is Ellie’s dad we’re talking about,” Patton said nervously. 

“I hate him with every bone in my body. I should have taken him out while I was still living under his roof, God knows he trained me well enough for that much,” Ellie hissed out. “That fucker experimented on children, there’s no going back from that. As far as I care, he has no family anymore. He may have contributed to my genetic makeup, but I’m not his daughter.” 

Patton nodded tactfully. “Got it, never mind then,” he replied. “Message received.” He sounded a little scared.

“How’d you get out?” Janus was clearly just vibrating at the thought of grilling Ellie. 

She shook her head, dismissing the question. “Now that’s a story for another day, and not one that I’d like to think about right now.” 

“Where were Logan’s parents? Why didn’t they take  _ him  _ back?” 

“Kind of hard to return a child to sender when the sender dies in childbirth,” Ellie replied softly. Beside her, Logan flinched a little bit. 

“Why did he wait so long to try and find us?” 

“Ian’s life work was simply creating the supersoldiers, his organization was the one that wanted to actually use them. They were briefly dissolved, but the American government is weak right now, according to them. They think it’s the perfect time to strike.” Ellie shrugged. “I don’t keep up with politics. It’s kind of hard when you don’t live in a registered US household.” 

Janus narrowed his eyes. “And despite the fact that you could have come out and just explained all of this to us in an upfront and honest fashion, you decided to tranquilize us and drag us out to the middle of nowhere?” 

“There’s a Dunkin’ like right down the street from here,” Ellie protested. “We’re hardly in the middle of nowhere.”

“Oh good, that narrows our location down to anywhere in the United States with a Dunkin’ Donuts in it,” Janus grumbled. 

“According to a 2019 survey, it was last known that there were nine thousand, six hundred thirty known Dunkin’ Donuts in the United States,” Logan chimed in helpfully. 

_ “Why  _ do you know that?” 

Logan shrugged. 

“Whatever,” Janus said. “I make a point not to trust anyone who hauls my ass out my own door without my permission. Sue me.” 

Ellie frowned. “I’m not asking you to trust me right now, I’m just asking you to fake it till you make it, if not for my sake, then for your own.” 

Janus let out a little  _ tsk  _ sound. 

Ellie just sighed, before turning to address the entire group. “Since I know just how much Logan  _ adores  _ teaching, I had decided to let him take over for today, but Remy should be coming in soon.” 

“Oh thank goodness,” Logan muttered under his breath. His opinions on teaching them could not have been clearer in that moment. 

“Who’s Remy?” Janus asked, latching onto the opportunity to ask another question. 

Logan answered for her. “Remy was-  _ is  _ a personal fitness instructor. He’s been educated in exercise science, kinesthesiology, and physical therapy. He has assisted with a sizable amount of my training.”

“Holy shit,” Roman whispered.  _ Whoever Remy is, I sure hope he’s nice.  _

Remy was not nice. Roman was a little unsure if he lacked the capacity to be nice or just really didn’t care enough to try in the first place. What Remy was, in fact, was a good personal trainer. At the end of the day, he supposed that was all that mattered. 

Remy was a shorter man, with short brown hair and a fairly muscular build. He wore round, tinted glasses and carried no luggage on him. He greeted the Puppeteer like they were old friends, which Roman supposed they must be. 

“Babes!” Remy has cheered, wrapping Ellie in a hug. “How long has it been?” 

Ellie just laughed, returning the hug. “Oh jeez, since I saw you in person? Let me think… six, seven years?”

“That would be correct,” Logan agreed, and Remy turned to look at him. 

“Hey kid, long time no see.”

“Indeed, it has been some time,” Logan agreed. 

Remy looked almost happy for a moment before his expression hardened again. “Just because I knew you first doesn’t mean I’m giving you special privileges, okay hun? If Ellie over here wants me to whip you lot into shape, that’s what I’m going to do, kk?” 

Logan smiled just a fraction, and Roman’s brain locked onto the slight curve of his lip.  _ Focus,  _ he growled at himself. “Of course,” he replied. “I’ve been following your suggested regiments, so I don’t believe that I will need to worry about needing special privileges.” 

“I thought you said that your colleagues called you Puppeteer,” Janus said to Ellie. 

“Oh, he’s not a colleague,” she replied cheerfully, but said nothing more on the subject. 

Remy wasn’t staying with them, from what Roman could tell. He simply appeared in the gym the next morning, and the morning after that, and the morning after that. He was sure Janus had already tried to milk their “personal trainer” for information on where they were, how they got there, and how he got in and out of the building so easily. Roman was equally certain that Janus had gotten no straight answers out of the man whatsoever. 

“If you don’t go faster like, yesterday, I’ll be giving you extra push ups at the end of this!” Remy had hollered at them halfway through the very first part of their workout, and that had more or less set the tone for the next couple of weeks. 

Roman didn’t think Remy was that bad if he was being honest, he wasn’t any worse than his football coach had been, and it was kind of nice to throw himself back into workouts. Besides, Remy found new and exciting things for them to do from day to day. 

On one particular Friday morning, Roman walked into the gym only to find it filled with various different obstacles, two identical setups. He couldn’t help his eyes lighting up in delight. Beside him, he could almost feel Remus do the same. 

_ Never mind the fact that all of this equipment must have come from somewhere. Obstacle course!! _

Logan was already there with Remy, talking with the older man with a good natured grin on his charming marble face that Roman wished he got to see more often. As he watched, Remy cuffed him around the neck before walking over to meet them. 

“Obstacle course?” Roman asked him. 

“Obstacle course,” Remy confirmed with a small nod. “Oh hun, you are going to  _ love  _ this.” 

It was a race, which was a little unfair because of Virgil’s reflexes, but even Roman conceded that Logan couldn’t be forced to run the course alongside the tall boy, especially not with the small margin for error that the course itself provided. 

“You’ll be racing in twos,” Remy told them. “Janus and Patton, Remus and Virgil, and Logan and Roman. You should know how to do this, or whatever. Just don’t hit the obstacles and you’ll be fine. Janus and Patton, you’re up first.” 

And with that rousing, energetic pep talk, Remy stepped off the track and gestured to the starting line.

Janus kept his face passive as he walked up, but Patton’s nervousness betrayed him. It was written all over his face. 

“You’ve got this!” Roman called out, cheering them on. He, along with the other three waiting for their turns, had stepped off to the side somewhat, stepping off of the track itself. 

At Remy’s whistle, Patton and Janus took off. Patton had gotten faster in the past couple of weeks, and he kept even pace with Janus until the first hurdle. It was there that he took the lead. 

Nobody knew just how flexible Patton was until they were all sitting on the floor of the cafeteria, talking and stretching before their workout and Patton joined them, casually dropping down into a split without spilling a drop of his coffee. Needless to say, it was quite impressive. Remus didn’t shut up about it for a week. 

Janus recovered time when they reached the rock climbing wall (where had Remy gotten a rock climbing wall?). Lithe and light on his feet, he practically danced over the obstacle, dropping down on the other side with grace. 

Once more, Patton surged ahead when they reached the balance beams, helpfully positioned just a bit too high off of the ground for a tumble to have no repercussions. However, all it took was the pattern of tires laid out on the floor for Janus to claim the lead once more for himself. Footwork was his forte. 

The course ended with what appeared to be a solid wooden wall. In that wall there were large squares cut out, each a little above waist height. The idea seemed to be to jump through them, and while Janus didn’t hesitate, Patton did, losing him valuable time. 

On the other side of the wall there were two ropes tied to the ceiling. At the top of each rope was a large bell. That much was self explanatory. Janus had already begun his ascent when Patton reached the bottom of his own rope, but all it took was a couple of quick hand over hand movements for Patton to catch up with the other boy. 

While Janus thrived on solid ground, his upper arm strength left something to be desired. Patton smacked the bell on the top of his own rope only mere seconds before Janus was able to tap his own. 

They slid back down to the ground, both grinning and panting a little bit from the adrenaline. Patton looked incredibly proud of himself, as he should be. Roman had watched him put the effort in again and again, increasing his weight amount and pushing himself just that much harder each day. He cheered and clapped as was appropriate, watching a light blush make itself at home on Patton’s face as Virgil joined in with his cheering. 

“Not bad for a first try, babes,” Remy said with a small smile in their direction, his most common seal of approval. “Remus and Virgil, you know the drill.” 

Virgil absolutely crushed Remus, but it wasn’t like that was unexpected. Remus was fast and bendy, but that didn’t even compare to someone whose skill set revolved around speed. 

Roman felt a strange kind of apprehension as he took his step up to the starting line, Logan expressionless next to him. It was the same feeling that ran through his being before a football match, the same feeling that he got whenever he was gearing up to spar during a tournament. He grinned at Logan. The other boy didn’t grin back. He wasn’t wearing his glasses anymore. 

_ Let’s do this.  _

Roman had never felt so winded. The first hurdles had been good, with his longer legs he’d gotten just that much edge on Logan, but the lighter boy easily bested him on the rock climb. Their footwork was fairly evenly matched, but that didn’t matter because Roman’s balance was  _ shit  _ and he lost  _ so much time  _ on the stupid balance beams. Gritting his teeth, he pressed on. 

Watching as Logan did a diving roll through his portion of the wall, Roman followed, quickly springing back up and onto the balls of his feet afterwards. All that was left now was the rope. His lungs were burning by now as he watched Logan scaling the rope with nearly equal speed out of the corner of his eye. All he needed was to go  _ just a little faster  _ and he would  _ beat him  _ and  _ win.  _

Roman smacked his bell with all the force he could muster, hearing Logan’s ring out at the exact same time. Closing his eyes with a groan and letting out a sharp breath, Roman slid down his rope to meet Remy. Logan was already on the ground, looking annoyed. 

“Who won?” the shorter boy demanded. 

“It was a tie, hun,” Remy said with a smirk. “You did well, kid.” 

“No, but who won?” Logan asked again. “Surely you saw one of us signal the end of our run a fraction of a moment sooner than the other. I refuse to accept a tie, who did you see finish first?”

“Neither, babes.” Remy spoke with the practiced tone of someone who had heard a lot of this. “You do like, know what a tie is, right? And I’m not just talking about the one you wear around your neck.” 

“Homophones,” Logan said through gritted teeth, before shaking his head as though to clear it. “Of course I know the meaning of the word tie. I’m just telling you that a tie would be statistically improbable. There must have been one of us who finished marginally faster.”  _ Me,  _ his body language seemed to say.  _ I finished first.  _

His hair was loose and slightly frizzy from the exercise, and even as Roman watched him, he ran his fingers through it, brushing the silky strands back from his face and out of his way.  _ He looks older like this,  _ Roman couldn’t help but think.  _ More mature. No less handsome.  _

Logan looked so passionate that Roman almost forgave him for insinuating that he had beaten him, if only by a fraction of a second. Almost. “Woah, woah, woah,” he butted in with a small frown of his own. “Teach, are you telling me that you honestly believe that you beat me?” 

Logan turned to face him. “And so what if I am, Prince?” he asked, jutting his chin out and taking a step closer to Roman. This might have been intimidating if he’d been taller. 

Roman smirked back as he took a step closer, closing the gap between them even more. “Well, I disagree,” he shot back. “I think that  _ I  _ beat you.” 

Logan puffed up like a porcupine, stepping closer still. “There is absolutely no feasible way that someone as… as  _ brutish  _ as you could have possibly beaten me! You appeared to be trying to mimic an elephant as you walked across the balance beam.”

“ _ I’m brutish?”  _ Roman looked down his nose at Logan, glowering. “Oh that’s  _ rich. _ You want to trash talk, pretty boy? You’re so short the hurdles are practically twice your size! How you even managed to clear them in the first place is beyond me!” He was breathing heavily, his own face only inches away from Logan’s own, the two of them locked so close together and yet so still as Roman’s last words took a moment to sink in. 

And then Logan shoved him. At least, he tried to. Mostly, his hands simply rested on Roman’s lower pectorals as Logan tried to heave his entire body weight into the taller boy. Roman raised an eyebrow at the slight push that he felt. It was nowhere near enough to move him.  _ Thank you super strength.  _

Logan’s face colored as he noticed their proximity, though he didn’t remove his hands from Roman. “I am not short,” he gritted out. 

Roman’s smirk just widened as he gazed into Logan’s deep blue eyes. The air between them seemed charged. “Sure, half pint. Whatever you need to tell yourself.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Virgil: Are the fighting or flirting?
> 
> Remus: Yes. 
> 
> (okay so hear me out I'm a soft Patton gal all the way but I also heavily support buff Patton rights so why not combine the two? Soft short baby who gives the best hugs but you catch him flex one time and just realize oh s h i t his arms are massive and just,,, he's athletic without having to "look the part" because tbh not every healthy person looks like a stick and not every body is built to lose that much fat and idk man soft squishy athletic Patton just makes me feel good so that's how I'm writing him lol)


	10. Virgil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan feels about 12 different emotions and hates all of them, Virgil reflects on something he never wanted to think about again, and Roman gets to beat some people up. 
> 
> Just a warning y'all, shit gets real in this chapter. Like, there's fighting and a lot of other gross stuff (nothing sexual tho I don't do any of that lol) but just... if you're squeamish this might not be the chapter for you. (Should I post a summary? Let me know if you want me to add a summary in the end notes and I totally will. The fighting and gross stuff happens after the line “Doubtful.”)

Virgil couldn’t believe how placated he’d become. During his month at The Safehouse, he’d not only eaten meals with and “hung out with” his kidnappers, but he also found himself looking forward to seeing them. 

_ Is this what Stockholm syndrome looks like?  _

Ah, well, if it was and he had it, then he was already fucked, what would the point be in trying to fight it now? Virgil walked down the hallway, once so foreign and now so familiar, and sighed, trailing his fingers across the paint on the walls. It was chipping. 

He missed his family, he missed the zoom calls back and forth on Saturday nights, and he missed being held in Patton’s arms even after they left, the other boy numbing his homesickness just a little bit. 

That wasn’t to say that Patton didn’t still hold him. In a sick kind of way, he was relieved that Patton was there with him. He didn’t know what he would have done if he didn’t have that little slice of his life by his side. Patton was an anchor for him, a peppy, cheerful, ever present anchor. 

_ An anchor who he would trust with his life, so maybe he should start listening to him about this place.  _

Virgil walked into the kitchen and dining area, spotting Logan and Roman, all up in one another’s personal space and having an argument over what appeared to be which kind of jam went best on toast. They were both smirking a little bit. He rolled his eyes.  _ Idiots.  _

Janus was in the other corner, watching the “fight” with a perplexed yet amused look on his face. He had a steaming cup of tea in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. 

Remus was missing, as was Patton. That made sense. No one was allowed to use the weights without someone to spot, just in case. Virgil poured himself a cup of coffee, grabbing his cup from the front of the shelf and filling it to the brim.  _ When did I get my own cup?  _ he wondered, staring at it. It was a plaid purple, and he’d chosen it so many days in a row that he supposed the others must have started leaving it for him. 

“What’s on the agenda today, Teach?” he asked Logan, doing what only a fool would do and interrupting his argument with Roman. “You got any idea?” 

“No training,” Roman said, almost bitterly. “Remy said so.” 

Virgil made a face. Routine was good, and this was upsetting the routine. “Why not?” 

Logan’s eyes were big and dangerously sharp. “Tonight we have a job.” 

“We?” Virgil asked, taking a sip. 

Logan hesitated, correcting himself. “Ellie will choose who is best suited to deal with the problem. We’ll be briefed about it after lunch. Until then, we are encouraged to relax.” 

“Oh, like you and Roman are relaxing,” Virgil replied, mirthful. 

Logan flushed a brilliant red. “Roman and I are having a mature  _ discussion,”  _ he replied, tone clipped. “It just so happens that we have conflicting opinions on this particular subject.” 

“Uh huh,” Virgil replied. “Alright, well, I guess I’ll see you at noon.” 

Noon came quicker than expected. Virgil had spent the vast majority of his time in the library, a room he’d only recently discovered. To call the library a room might be to do it a disservice, in fact. It was very large for a room. The library was the only place in the Safehouse with windows, and the Puppeteer had recently taught them how to get up to it. In fact, the library actually appeared to rest on top of the Safehouse; above ground.  _ Maybe it’s a front,  _ Virgil thought to himself with a grin. 

Despite being more or less abandoned, the library was well kept up. There wasn’t a speck of dust in the place, and the books were all ordered in perfect compliance with the Dewey decimal system. 

Virgil had found, if he looked for the right kinds of books, he could find ones absolutely filled with Logan’s neat, precise handwriting, crammed into the margins or just blatantly written over the text itself. Some were notes, others observations, and a couple of them appeared to be personal snippets. He couldn’t quite follow Logan’s train of thought, but he was sure they all made perfect sense to the other boy. 

Needless to say, the library certainly wasn’t in use anymore. That didn’t stop it from being Virgil’s new favorite part of the Safehouse. He was away from Logan and Roman’s senseless bickering up here, from Janus’ shifty glances and Remus’ crude facts. He was surprised more people didn’t use it. Maybe Logan only used it when they were sleeping. 

The Puppeteer was waiting for them at noon, looking very official standing next to Remy. Less official than she would look if she came up to more than just past his shoulder, but still very official nonetheless. 

“Hey,” Virgil nodded at her, grabbing a sandwich from the tray and sitting down at the table. He’d decided that they definitely didn’t cater to this place on a day to day basis, but Remy had probably picked up the sandwich platter for today. 

Patton was already there, eating his own hoagie. He sent Virgil a big smile when he sat down. Logan and Roman were sitting with their arms crossed, shooting one another looks out of the corners of their eyes. Remus sat between them, looking exasperated. Janus leaned against the wall, away from everyone else. 

“So,” Ellie started. “Logan told you we had a job tonight.” 

“Yeah, what’s all that about?” Virgil asked her. 

She turned to look at him. “We have reason to believe that my father will be collecting information tonight, information that could prove deadly to us if it falls into the wrong hands.” 

“What kind of reason to believe?” Roman inquired. 

“The kind of reason that comes from Logan hacking into the organization and finding out that they’re sending out men tonight to collect this information.” 

“They have a weekly email,” Logan added on helpfully. 

“Right,” Roman nodded, looking a bit sheepish. 

“We’ll be sending two of you out to apprehend and stop these men before they can procure the information that Si- my father wishes for them to procure.” Ellie winced a little bit. 

Logan and Roman both sat up a little straighter. Virgil watched Remus roll his eyes. Patton just looked worried. He slipped his hand into the shorter boy’s giving him a comforting squeeze. 

Ellie let out a preemptive sigh. “After some deliberation, I believe that Roman and Virgil will be the ones best suited for this particular expedition.” 

Virgil was pretty sure Logan had stopped breathing. He looked like a statue. Then again, maybe that was just him being himself. “I’m sorry?” Virgil said, voice barely a whisper. 

Ellie smiled at him, repeating herself. “You and Roman, if you so desire, will be going out tonight to stop some generic henchmen from procuring information that could be harmful. I’ve thought it over and it was a unanimous decision between me and myself. You two are well prepared and work well together. Is that alright by you, Virgil?”

“U-uh, yeah,” he choked out, his throat feeling dry. Patton’s hand was burning in his own, squeezing so tightly he didn’t think he had circulation in his fingers anymore. 

“Excellent!” She replied, chipper. “Don’t worry guys, this will be a piece of cake. Just find them, knock them out, and get them far away from there. The important part is that they don’t get the information they need. We know roughly where they’ll be, and Logan or I will be talking in your ear the entire time.” 

_ Why is she so nonchalant about something that information that could ‘prove deadly to us if it falls into the wrong hands’?  _ Virgil bit his lip. 

Ellie continued talking. “Remy will help you two figure out some of the other specifics, you can go with him.” 

The next few hours were a blur. Virgil followed Remy to the gym, where he was handed a sharp knife. 

“Alright babes, they already all know what you look like, and there’s no mistaking you for Roman, so just wear something black and moveable and you’ll be fine,” Remy advised them, handing another knife to Roman of equal length. “Don’t use these unless you need them, okay? They’re just hired people with their own lives and families, we’re trying to incapacitate them, not kill them.” 

“Right,” Roman replied, looking excited. 

“Right,” Virgil echoed him, feeling his stomach turn. 

“Now for the important part. You guys get to ride in my car, we’ll get going a little before seven thirty. There is to be no food or drink in my backseat, do you hear me?” Remy glared at them. “Like, if you even spill a crumb back there I’ll  _ know. _ You have to wear your seatbelts and keep your hands to yourself. I choose the music, which will be absolutely bitching and you will appropriately appreciate.” 

“Why do I feel like there’s an ‘or else’ tacked onto the end of that statement?” Virgil mumbled. 

“Shotgun!” Roman called enthusiastically. 

Remy just looked at him. “Oh honey, no.” 

Virgil lasted until about six before the antsy feeling crawling all over his body began to make him feel sick. He shot up from his checkers game with Patton, jostling the table slightly and startling the other boy. (Board games- they’d discovered them in the room that Virgil had dubbed the commons area soon after Remy started running their workouts.) “I’m going to go see the Puppeteer,” he announced, and Patton just nodded back at him, eyes wide and confused and unsure. 

The hallway seemed to go on and on. 

Virgil was about to push open the Puppeteer’s door when he heard the voices from inside. He tilted his head to the side curiously, straining to get a better idea of what was going on.

“-absolutely insufferable!” 

“Logan, please.” Ellie sounded amused. 

“I have been training to deal with them for  _ years,  _ why would you ever even consider sending-” 

“And you’ve been dealing with it perfectly fine for  _ years,  _ why not step back and give someone else a crack at it, kiddo?” 

“Because I’d do it better.” Logan’s next words were practically a snarl, and Virgil flinched.  _ He’s probably right.  _

“What, you don’t think pretty boy’s got it in him? He’s got heart for sure.” Ellie’s voice lifted in a teasing manner. 

“My… mixed feelings on Roman have absolutely  _ nothing  _ to do with this.”

“Oh yeah, it certainly sounds like your feelings have no part in this. For someone who puts up such a strong front, it crumbles back on down pretty quickly.” 

Logan let out a sound that seemed to be a mix between a cough and a swear. “My feelings are not of consequence. I don’t think they’re ready. I don’t think they trust us enough to put their lives on the line. What if they run off? We need them.” 

“We’ve let them use the library for weeks now, I think if they really wanted to escape they could. Besides, there’s a reason I’m sending Roman and Virgil, not Janus. I’m dumb, not stupid.” 

“Why them? What makes them better than me? At least send me instead of Roman.” Logan’s tone had turned almost pleading.

Ellie just laughed. “What, no comment on Virgil? I chose Roman and Virgil  _ because  _ they have the potential to work so well together. The whole point of it is the dynamic, you know that. Their powers compliment one another, they’ll make a strong team.” 

_ It’s nice to know at least someone has faith in us.  _

“Then send me with them.” 

“And have you do nothing except make heart eyes at Prince the entire mission? Nuh uh little berry, you know why only sending two out on this mission will be safest.” 

Logan made another sound, though this one sounded like a cat dying. Virgil smirked.  _ Who knew Logan was this passionate when arguing with anyone except Roman?  _ “I don’t care about staying under the radar!” 

“Well that’s a first. I distinctly remember you begging me not to go out and deal with my associates ‘so as to ensure that our disguises are not compromised’. You were very insistent, for a ten year old.”

“I don’t understand why you don’t see all of the possibilities for failure here!” Logan replied, sounding exasperated but a little bit spent. 

“I understand what’s going on perfectly,” Ellie replied, voice startlingly gentle. “You’re worried for them, you’re worried for us, and you’re worried that something might come up that you could have prevented. You’re angry with me for choosing them over you despite knowing that this is not favoritism and they’ll need the experience you already have, and you’re angry with yourself for feeling all of this so irrationally.” 

Logan sighed. He sounded tired and suddenly like he wanted to be anywhere but there. “Emotion is irksome.” 

Ellie let out a windchime laugh. “Tell me about it kiddo. I was a teenager once too.” Virgil could almost imagine Ellie reaching out and ruffling his hair playfully. 

“-Mmh not a teenager anymore, I’m twenty,” Logan protested, most likely batting her hands away from his silky hair. 

“Yes, you’re very mature. Now I know it’s hard, but go and accept your night off like a man.” Ellie sounded fond. Virgil could hear some shuffling from inside. 

Logan opened the door with the inkling of a grin on his face, but it faded immediately upon seeing Virgil. “Oh,” he said quietly. 

There was a long moment of silence.  _ Shit.  _

“Hey,” Virgil tried, voice cracking a little bit. He winced. 

“How much of that did you hear?” Logan’s tone was guarded, almost no hint of the emotion Virgil had heard from him mere moments earlier. 

“Umm… not that much.” 

Logan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re a terrible liar.” 

Virgil winced. 

“Just go in.” Logan waved him off. “It’s whatever.” It certainly didn’t sound like it was whatever, but Virgil wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He quickly slid past Logan, closing the door behind him. 

“Virgil,” Ellie said with a smile. “How are you?” 

“I don’t think I can do this tonight,” Virgil blurted out, wincing at the bluntness. 

A small, discontented smile made itself at home on Ellie’s face. “Why not?” she asked him. 

“I…” Virgil hesitated.  _ I’m scared? I don’t think I’ll be able to do it? Logan was right? Logan would be a better choice? Find someone who has more self confidence?  _

Ellie looked at him. “I remember the first time I found myself in your position,” she told him quietly. 

“You do?” Hearing them aloud, the words sounded stupid. 

Ellie nodded. “I was wracked with nervousness all day. This was before Logan was old enough that I felt okay about letting him help me, so I had to figure everything out all on my own. I was stopping a delivery of relatively sketchy materials, pretty standard stuff. I was so worried that I almost chickened out, but those materials might have helped Rise hurt more people, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let that happen.” 

Virgil frowned. 

“I was actually around your age. Logan was, what? Eight? Nine? Something like that. I didn’t have anyone else to turn to. Only difference now is that you do, Virgil.” She smiled a little. “I chose you and Roman for tonight because you two have excelled at every possible test Remy could have thrown at you, because despite your badgering and teasing, you really do have incredible synergy, and because I trust you and your abilities. I just hope that you can learn to trust yourself as well. However, if you really want, I can find someone else to take your place later tonight.” 

Virgil’s mouth felt dry. “What happened?” he asked. “When you had to go out your first time.”

Ellie winced a little. “I nearly botched it, I was so nervous. The people picking up the delivery might as well have been made of paper when pitted against my skill set, but I was so nervous about the whole thing that I almost got killed.” 

She pulled up the edge of her black shirt, showing Virgil a small, ovalur scar on her stomach, a couple of inches off from her bellybutton. 

“Gunshot wound?” he asked. 

“Cheers,” she replied dryly. “I removed the bullet and stitched it up myself. Fun little skill I picked up over the years.”

_ Well this does absolutely nothing to help my fears. Does she think she’s being reassuring?  _

Ellie continued talking. “Despite the bullet wound, the mission actually went fairly well! Didn’t pierce any organs, and once I got over myself I realized that these men were literally lined up like bowling pins for me to knock down and I managed to… dispose of any materials and evidence with relative ease. Honestly, it was a little rough around the edges, but nothing I wouldn’t do again if I knew I could help keep Logan safe, knew I could keep  _ other people _ safe.” She shrugged. “It was a pretty easy decision once I factored that in.” 

That sounded like something Virgil from junior year might have said.  _ That’s really all that I had wanted to do.  _ He clenched his jaw a little bit. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll do it.” 

Roman was elated. Then again, Roman was elated about every part of tonight. He was practically vibrating with excitement when Logan attached his earpiece, he nearly squealed when Ellie gave them their final bits of advice, and he gave Virgil the largest grin when they were proclaimed ‘good to go’. 

“Just be careful, okay?” 

Virgil turned his head to the side at the sound of Logan’s voice. The sentiment was directed at Roman, and the shorter boy’s eyes were a cocktail of emotion that Virgil couldn’t quite place. 

“Aww, you do have a heart.” Roman teased him gently, though his tone was equally emotionally charged. 

“Shut up,” Logan replied, no malice in his voice. “Despite our disagreements, I do value your company. We’re… friends.” 

“We’re going into this looking for a fight, I’m not so sure how safe we can-” Roman stopped at the look on Logan’s face. “Of course I’ll be careful,” Roman replied quietly. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back tomorrow morning, and just as irritatingly handsome as you remember me.” 

“Yay, friendship,” Janus deadpanned from the corner, rolling his eyes and interrupting whatever Logan might have said in response. They both flushed a brilliant red. 

Virgil also rolled his eyes.  _ Yup, just two pals being pals. Nothing more going on over there. _

_...Idiots.  _

The car ride over was tense, but at least the music was nice. 

Roman whistled as they walked, a fact that Virgil found incredibly annoying. 

  
Finally he snapped. “God, Logan is right, you are incredibly irritating!” he groaned. “Will you please shut up! We are trying to be stealthy here!” 

Roman stopped whistling, but only so he could retort, “Logan thinks I’m irritatingly handsome, there’s a difference.” 

_ “Falsehood,”  _ crackled through their earpieces.  _ “You were the one to describe yourself as irritatingly handsome, I actually agree with Virgil on this one.”  _ So Logan was listening in on them right now. Virgil wondered offhand where Ellie was.  _ “Please try and keep your focus on your mission, Roman.”  _

Roman made an offended noise. “Whatever, teach, you’ll come to appreciate my beauty one of these days.” 

_ “Doubtful.”  _

A laugh was bubbling up in Virgil’s throat, charged with a sort of nervous energy, when he spotted them. More accurately, he heard them. 

“Come on, just give us what we want and we’ll be on our way!” 

Virgil was immediately on guard. Roman had stiffened next to him as well. “I thought we were finding two creeps looking for information,” he whispered, unsure of whether or not Logan could actually hear them. “Is that them?” 

_ “The men that you are looking for should be around here,”  _ Logan replied.  _ “Perhaps they’re simply having a bit of fun with their interrogation?”  _

“Well there are two of them,” Roman offered. “How many sets of two creeps can be out on the same city block this time of night?” 

The woman they had cornered let out a nervous laugh. Her naked fear felt like a slap to the face.

Bile rose to Virgil’s throat as his heart rate increased. “What kind of a sick fuck-?” 

_ “The kind who work for an organization that experiments on children. Find out if these men are the targets, or move on.”  _ Logan sounded a little nervous. Virgil couldn’t blame him. Most muggings took place with guns present. Then again, most interrogations took place with guns present as well.  _ “We can’t afford to lose any time.”  _

“I don’t care who they work for, no one should be harassing other people,” Roman replied, almost snarling. He began to walk forward, Virgil speeding up to match his sudden pace. 

Virgil’s vision was kicked into high gear. Probably the adrenaline.

There were two men in the alley, both wearing black jackets. They had twin crew cuts, and were built like retired football players. Not quite in peak physical shape anymore, starting to go a bit soft around the edges. The woman was backed up against the alley wall. Her hair was long and blonde, and she carried no purse or other valuables that were visible to Virgil. 

“Come on, just tell us, it’ll be easier that way,” the other man said, with a grin that sent chills down Virgil’s spine. He was slightly taller than his accomplice, and his arms were crossed in a threatening manner. 

“Hey!” Roman barked out, catching their attention, and the men turned. Virgil caught sight of the inscription stitched on the breast of their jackets. 

_ Rise.  _

“It’s them,” he said, more for Logan’s benefit than Roman’s, though he wasn’t sure whether or not that fact would have mattered to Roman at this point. “She doesn’t have a bag and they want information.” 

The men scowled at the pair of them and Virgil supposed he and Roman must look pretty supid right now. They were clothed in slightly oversized black athletic clothing from head to toe, and while that was Virgil’s usual look of choice, that didn’t stop it from looking like a uniform if both he and Roman were wearing the same thing. 

He was gangly and more leg than torso and Roman’s hair was obsessively styled, not a hair out of place, they weren’t exactly the most intimidating duo. Clearly they didn’t intimidate the men in front of them. 

“Deal with them?” The taller man looked disinterested. His accomplice grinned and cracked his knuckles, stepping forward slowly. 

There was only so much alley left between their two groups. The atmosphere was so tense you could feel it. Roman threw the first punch, which was a surprise to pretty much nobody.

_ Wow, who could have seen that coming?  _ Virgil thought dryly, and slightly hysterically. 

With his accomplice inhibited with dealing with Roman, the taller man turned back to the woman in the alley. Virgil could practically see her shrink against the wall. 

Before he knew what he was doing, he had squeezed himself in between the two of them, shoving the other man back with all of his strength. The man stumbled a little bit, and a shot of pride rocketed through him. He could hear Roman fighting behind him, though he would have thought a fight like that wouldn’t be much of a fight at all for Roman. These were supposed to be just your average lackeys. Easy.  _ Strange.  _

“Oh come on, I don’t want to punch a kid,” this man groaned, rolling his eyes. “But I will if I need to. You aren’t a part of this, just take your friend and get out of here. This doesn’t concern you.”

“It looks like your associate has no problem with punching a kid,” Virgil commented between gritted teeth. His heart was pounding. Logan was yelling in his ear, probably telling him to  _ fight,  _ to  _ do something.  _ He was completely immobilized with fear, feet rooted to the floor. They’d gotten him this far, why couldn’t he move them? The man in front of him was so large.  _ Oh God. I’m freaking out.  _

“We all have our hang ups,” the other man commented, and Virgil was pretty sure this was Not How A Fight Was Supposed To Go, but he could see the woman behind him slowly begin to inch her way out of the alley and he decided that if this got her to safety, then that was good enough for him. 

“Well, your hang up is stupid,” Virgil said, saying the first thing that came into his mind. 

“I don’t think so,” the other man replied, shaking his head and beginning to reach for something behind him. 

“Oh? Why not?” Virgil tried to challenge, but his voice cracked a little on the word ‘why’ and he sounded more concerned than rebellious. 

The man was grinning again, that same grin that just shook Virgil to his core, and he had to repress a shiver as the man said his next words, matter of fact. “Because, punching a kid makes it a little too personal. It’s much more painless for me to just shoot them instead.” 

_ Wait, let me get Roman, he’s immune to gunshot wounds,  _ Virgil’s brain thought, almost comically.  _ He’d like this conversation a lot better than I would.  _

A strange sense of calm came over Virgil as the man pulled out his gun, cocking it and aiming it at Virgil’s face, expressionless. This was just another day for him. Virgil was thrown back to when he was sixteen, standing in a different alley with a strange man with a gun in front of him. 

_ “Virgil!”  _ Logan was yelling at him, voice loud and jarring in his ear.  _ “Get out of there!”  _

The woman was still behind him. He couldn’t let the gun go off. His knife weighed heavy in his pocket. 

Before he could think twice, Virgil had taken it out and plunged it into the man’s chest. 

It all happened over the span of a second. The man’s face contorted with pain he hadn’t expected to feel, the woman behind Virgil screamed, and the blood began to seep through the front of the man’s jacket. Roman’s head turned a little at the woman’s scream.  _ Oh shit, oh fuck.  _

Virgil took a small step back, still holding the bloodied knife, his eyes widening. The man’s chest was gushing blood, and he took a step back as well, looking down in confusion. “Oh, you’re quick,” he muttered, blinking heavily. “Like Donna…” His hand tightened on the gun and Virgil smacked it out of his hand, wincing slightly. His feet were still rooted to the floor. 

The man in front of him swayed, and then collapsed, sliding down the other wall of the alley and letting out a rattling breath. He’d probably been stabbed in the lung. 

Virgil looked down at his hands. They were speckled red. 

Oh. Oh  _ no. _

_ Red. _

_ His hands were covered in red. They were absolutely coated, but that didn’t matter, he clutched the woman closer to his chest. Even as he watched, more blood gushed out of her open wound, staining the front of his jacket and his arms and his thighs a little bit and tainting everything it touched.  _

_ “Oh shit, oh fuck, hang on,” Virgil whispered in a broken voice that didn’t belong to him. “Oh fuck, I’m calling nine one one now, hold on.”  _

_ He fumbled for his phone, kept in his back pocket. His fingers were slick and slippery with blood, and his fingerprint ID wasn’t working. Hands shaking, he tried to type in his passcode again, blood smearing across the cracked screen.  _

_ The woman, he didn’t know her name, let out another weak, bloodied cough. Her eyes were slipping shut. He was watching her final breaths and he couldn’t do anything about it.  _

_ “No,” Virgil whispered, eyes widening as he watched her chest deflate one last time, begging it to rise again. “No!”  _

_ There was so much blood.  _

_ There was just so much…  _

_...blood... _

“Virgil!” Roman’s voice snapped him back to reality.  _ I’m crying,  _ Virgil thought numbly, feeling the salty tears drip down his cheeks. From where it lay on the ground next to him, a bead of blood welled up at the tip of the knife and fell to the ground as well. He looked at Roman. 

Almost immediately, Roman’s expression turned to relief. His hands were ghosting across Virgil’s arms, and he looked out of breath. “Virgil? Virgil, I think that the cops are coming. Can you hear me?” 

Virgil nodded numbly. 

He didn’t know what had happened to the man that Roman was fighting. Later, he would find that Roman had managed to knock him unconscious and throw him in a nearby dumpster, and that would make him feel even worse. That wasn’t important right now. 

He didn’t remember much of the ride home, just that Roman sat next to him, tapping his leg against the seat. They didn’t play music, or maybe they did. Virgil wouldn’t have been able to tell you either way. Remy had a red hydro flask on the floor of the car, it rolled around as he turned corners above the speed limit and bumped against Virgil’s foot every so often with a soft  _ clink. _

He closed his eyes at some point. He just wished he could stop seeing the red. Over and over again the scene played, red dripping and running and trickling like a creek, burning hot to the touch and too cold to feel all at once, metallic and tangy and so inappropriately fascinating. 

He threw up once, about ten minutes out from the Safehouse. It was a testament to how bad Remy felt for him that he didn’t even yell at him for throwing up on the inside of his car. Virgil appreciated it, he didn’t think he could put up with a lecture right now. 

His legs didn’t seem to work, but when he looked down at them, they were moving. He was moving, but he didn’t remember getting out of the car. Everywhere he looked there was red. Roman’s cheaply dyed hair was always in his peripheral. It had been darker red when he’d first met the other boy, but had faded slightly with time. He tried not to look at it as his stomach turned again. 

Virgil’s stomach twisted around and around, like the world’s most warped and knotted pretzel. He was going to be sick again. 

\-----

Somewhere in a darkened alley, skin and muscle knit themselves together very slowly. Punctured organs healed over, and deep brown eyes slowly opened in annoyance. It was a slow process, and slower every day that he used it, but some things couldn’t be avoided at this point. 

Police sirens could be heard as red and blue lights began to bounce against the brick walls around him and the man let his head  _ thunk  _ down on the alley floor. His partner was gone, they hadn’t gotten the information they needed, and the police were on their way. In fact, they were almost there.

  
_ Oh, Sir was going to  _ kill  _ them for this... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this really got away from me lol. Somehow this ended up over 5kt words, but I'm glad I didn't try to split it into two chapters. I think it works better as one chapter. I promise fluff next chapter though! :D
> 
> Hope you... enjoyed?


	11. Patton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter, but I do so very much love writing fluff, so have this lol
> 
> Enjoy! :D

Patton didn’t know what was going on. All he knew was that one minute he was sitting in the commons, tapping his foot anxiously and watching Remus “sneakily” move around chess pieces while Janus was distracted to try and finally beat him at chess, and the next moment Logan had charged into the room, his eyes a little too wide and his breathing a little too ragged. 

Patton was on his feet immediately. _Virgil._

“Virgil?” he asked Logan, his heart rate picking up. 

Remus had joined him in a second. “Roman?” he tacked on. Patton felt his head twitch to Remus almost on instinct. He could practically taste the other boy’s sudden rush of fear. That was never good. He didn’t even know that Remus was capable of feeling anything like that, he was usually so blase and laid back about everything. 

Logan ran his fingers through his hair, trying to calm his nerves. That only made Patton’s heart race a little faster. A headset lay around his neck. “They’re alive, Remy is driving them home now,” he said, voice quiet. “They… messed up.” 

And that was all he told them. Remus looked almost distraught. In that moment, his worst fear was that something had happened to his brother, and Patton didn’t even need to double check to confirm that fact. 

_What happened to Virgil?_

“Oh gosh,” he whispered into the open air. Nobody responded. 

Patton had bitten his lip bloody and raw before they got back. When he felt them, his head snapped up. That much emotion was hard to miss. “They’re back,” he barely managed to get the words out, and Remus’ head snapped over to look at the door. 

Virgil had to be sort of led through the door by Roman, and Patton could feel the anxiety and shame and fear and self hatred absolutely _pooling_ around him. It seemed to saturate the very air and Patton choked back a sob of his own. That much emotion was enough to drown in, and it wasn’t even his emotion.

Patton didn’t even think. He was by Virgil’s side in a second, batting Roman’s hands away lightly and letting the other boy move to stand next to his brother and Logan, a slightly torn expression on his face. Logan touched Roman’s arm lightly. 

Ellie swooped into the room then, a concerned look on her face and her movements slightly jerky and rushed. She gestured once at Logan and he was at her side in an instant. They spoke briefly in hushed voices and then he nodded, exiting the room with purpose. 

None of that mattered in the moment as much as _Virgil_ did and oh gosh was he hurt? Was he in pain? What _happened?_

The only part of the conversation Patton had been able to hear was “-go fix th-” and “-whatever you have to do”. Virgil buried his head in Patton’s shoulder and squeezed him tightly and Patton could feel even more guilt pouring off of the boy. _He can hear everything they said,_ Patton thought. 

“Alright,” Ellie addressed the room, directing them. People went where they were told without a second thought. “Everyone, this is fine, everything is fine. This situation is entirely fixable. Janus, Remus, why don’t you set this room up for a sleepover? Make it cozy. Patton, you should get some snack food, I think we still have popcorn in the cupboard, and there are chips in there somewhere for sure. Roman, go get yourself cleaned up. Take a nice long shower, whatever you want. Virgil?” She hesitated. “Why don’t you come with me, kiddo.” 

Virgil’s hold on Patton’s entire body tightened just a little bit more as he looked at the Puppeteer numbly. 

“Can he stay with me?” Patton asked her quietly. He didn’t want Virgil to leave him anymore than Virgil himself wanted to have to leave him. 

She hesitated only a moment before nodding. “I’ll accompany you two to the kitchen then,” she decided. Turning back once more to Janus, she spoke one last time. “Janus, there are extra blankets and pillows in the hall closet.”

Patton gently tugged Virgil to the kitchen, scared that the other boy would shatter in his arms, and began rummaging around in the tiny cabinets. It wasn’t long before he found a box of microwave popcorn. 

“I know what you’re going through,” Ellie said softly to Virgil. “First missions are always the hardest.”

He turned to look at her. “How?” he whispered, and Patton suppressed a wince at the crackling, wobbly tone of his voice. 

Ellie got a far away look in her eyes and Patton just knew they were about to get a monologue. He punched the popcorn button on the microwave and it whirred to life in the background. 

“I was twenty one when I got my scar,” Ellie started. That got their attention for sure. 

Virgil’s brow creased. “But you’d have been going out for…” 

“For three years, yeah.” Ellie rolled her eyes. “This was another normal, run of the mill type night. I was overly prepared, Logan had actually helped me check the backgrounds of the guys that were being bribed, and I knew who I needed to take out.” 

“Wait, bribed?” 

Ellie nodded. “Rise got into a spot of trouble. Lawsuits. For some reason, there were some families that claimed their children had gone missing under suspicious circumstances involving the organization. Who could have guessed?” You could practically taste the sarcasm. Virgil snorted a little and Patton’s heart soared at the sound. “Anyway,” Ellie continued, “Rise needed to pay off a couple of different people to keep everything hush hush.” 

“And you needed to stop them,” Virgil replied softly. 

Ellie nodded. “Preferably before they paid off the grieving parents. I intercepted them in the street. There were about six of them to my one, which were fairly stereotypical odds. I got cocky.” 

Virgil flinched and Patton frowned. Virgil had never been cocky after junior year. 

“The first couple were easy to… disable. In fact, I took the first five out of the picture with ease. They were pretty new recruits, chosen because they were big and burly and intimidating. Then I got slow. I was so close to done, I’d managed to ambush them perfectly, and no one had called the cops yet for a noise complaint. I took a little too long, and by the time I turned around, the other guy had a knife in my face.” 

Patton sucked in a breath. _Every time I hear something new about these two it just gets worse and worse,_ he thought grimly. Based on the horror pouring off of Virgil, he was not alone in this thought. 

She grimaced. “He got me three times before I fought back. Across the cheek over here, horizontally through the bridge of my nose, and one more time from my cheek to my jawline.” Ellie’s fingers ghosted across her scarring, barely brushing the raised skin. 

“But did you kill him?” Virgil barely whispered, sounding disgusted with himself. 

Ellie let out a grim laugh. “Virgil, I killed _all of them.”_

The microwave beeped at them. 

Patton twitched, but Virgil just looked up at her in confusion. “But you told us-” 

“Kid, I’m not going to make you into a killer for my own personal gain,” Ellie replied, now mirroring Virgil’s disgusted tone. “That’s your choice and your choice alone. _You_ make that decision, I would never take that decision from you. I’m grateful for the help, but I would never force that on you.” 

“But I did it anyway,” Virgil replied slowly, and Patton threaded his fingers through Virgil’s carefully, afraid to spook the taller boy away. He felt a rush of relief as Virgil squeezed his hand on his next words. “I still killed him.” 

“And you don’t ever have to do that again if you don’t want to.” Ellie’s voice was soft. “But Virgil?” 

Virgil looked up at her. 

“That man was a _bad man._ He was willing to lie and steal and bully just to help some rich old white man out and get a wad of cash in return. He’s certainly assisted with ripping families apart, and if he hasn’t personally, then he certainly knew that he might one day when he signed on to that job. Killing isn’t right, sure, but sometimes… it isn’t the worst thing in the world.” 

_Who are we to play God?_ Patton bit back. He wanted to say it but it was not what Virgil needed to hear right now. There would be time aplenty for moral debates in the future. 

“It’s okay to feel bad about not being able to protect defenseless, innocent life. But never beat yourself up over something like this, someone like him, please.” Ellie’s eyes were large and imploring. “He doesn’t deserve it.” 

Virgil nodded, slowly. He looked like he wanted to listen to her. 

Her cellphone rang, and Ellie picked it up. “Hey.” 

There was a moment of silence. 

“Great, I’ll see you soon.” She hung up, turning back to Patton, who was shaking the popcorn into a large green bowl, and Virgil, who looked marginally less shell shocked than before. “How about you two go cozy up on the couch and de-stress, okay? I have a bit of work I need to get done.” 

Virgil nodded. “Thank you.” He was grateful, grateful in a way that he would never be able to express with words, the kind of gratitude Patton was most familiar with seeing. 

He followed Patton to the living room, sliding onto the couch next to him with a soft _oomph._

Remus was curled up in the armchair to their left and Janus sat on the floor in front of the coffee table, holding the TV remote. 

Patton grinned at his friend as Virgil snuggled in, draping himself across Patton’s hip and side in a touchy way that he seldom got to witness. “What, tired?” he teased Vigril gently, already reaching with one hand to run his fingers through Virgil’s course locks. 

“Mmh,” Virgil replied, looking up at him through slightly hazy eyes. “Turns out, stabbing someone will do that to a person.” 

“I’m shocked,” Patton replied as Janus pressed play. There were blankets and pillows all over the floor and the couch, and even though it was a hot summer day and he already had a warm body lying half on top of him, Patton awkwardly maneuvered so that he could tug one of the lighter blankets over himself and Virgil. 

A beat of silence passed before Virgil spoke, filled only with the opening soundtrack to the movie they were watching. “S-just like movie Fridays.” He sounded tired, but Patton could sense a slightly buzzed sort of relaxation coming off of him. He kept carding his fingers gently through Virgil’s hair, working carefully around any little knots he found. 

“Yeah,” Patton whispered, smiling. “It kind of is, isn’t it?” 

“Do you miss them?” Virgil asked him. 

Patton considered it. “What, movie Fridays?” 

“Mmh hmm.” 

“No, not really.” 

Virgil looked up at him in confusion. 

Patton just grinned at him. “Because I have you right here right now, silly! I only like movie Fridays because they’re with you.” 

“Captain America’s ass!” Virgil protested accusingly. 

Patton felt himself giggle a little bit at that. “Hey now, true as that may be, let’s not use that language, how about that?”

“Butt. Posterior. Bottom. Tush.” Virgil stuck his tongue out at Patton before grinning and _wow Patton wanted to kiss that grin off his face._ “Pick your poison, they all mean ass.” 

He banished the thought before his brain could catch up. “There you go again with that language,” Patton told him again softly, voice more fond than actually reprimanding.

“Hey,” Virgil replied, snuggling a bit closer to him. “I had a rough day. I _stabbed_ a guy. A guy who apparently tore families apart. I think I have a free pass to say ass.” 

Patton chuckled a little. “I’ll write you a coupon,” he chirped. 

A door in the house opened and closed. Janus got up and left the room. 

Virgil just grinned sleepily. “I’ll hold you to that, Pattycake,” he replied. “Write me an ass pass.” He snorted a little at the rhyme.

“Sure you will,” Patton replied absentmindedly. He’d worked all of the tiny knots out of Virgil’s hair, but the boy’s soft humming in response to his ministrations kept him combing through his hair slowly. 

“Love you Pat,” Virgil replied, words slurring slightly as he drifted off to sleep. Patton was just glad he felt relaxed enough to sleep at all. _Poor Virgil,_ he thought to himself, absolutely _refusing_ to touch on the last words his friend had uttered before slipping off. 

It wouldn’t do him any good to pine anyway. 

“Love you too,” he replied quietly, the usually common words for him feeling foreign on his tongue. Patton swallowed the slight lump in his throat. 

Virgil’s chest rose and fell slowly as he slept, an action that Patton found absolutely fascinating. Then again, maybe he just found Virgil fascinating. The other boy had always been a bit of a mystery when they were younger, a bit of an enigma. He’d always held a part of himself back from Patton, until he’d held nothing back at all. Virgil was his soulmate, platonic or otherwise, and he didn’t know what he’d do without him. 

Patton sighed as he looked Virgil over. His black clothing (Virgil’s signature color) looked rumpled and dirty, and small flecks of red peppered his hands and forearms. Patton felt his stomach turn a little bit as he tried not to think too hard about that part. It would just upset Virgil more to move him now. 

At least it wasn’t as bad as last time. Patton closed his eyes, but that image was one that was burned into his retinas. He didn’t think he would ever forget the look on Virgil’s face as he stood in his doorway, blood dripping down his front, shaky hands held in front of him as though he’d burned them. That was the one memory of Virgil he wished so desperately that he could forget, but he never could. 

_At least I’ll never lose the memory of his smile either,_ Patton thought to himself. _Even if it might not always be for me._

Patton’s heart twisted a little at the thought of Virgil finding someone else to share his blinding smiles with, someone else to laugh with and joke with and sarcastically tease in that way that really meant ‘I love you,’ even if he’d never admit it, and he twisted his hands into the blanket overtop Virgil to disperse the thought. His friend was hurting and in pain and here Patton was getting jealous over people that didn’t even exist yet. _Some friend he was._

Roman joined them at some point later on in the night, freshly showered and smiling tentatively, none of his usual over the top enthusiasm showing through. He glanced at Virgil pressed against Patton’s side for only a moment, giving him a sad sort of smile. 

“Shhh,” Patton whispered anyway, barely hearable over the movie. _Just in case._ “He’s sleeping.” 

Roman nodded and sat down on the arm of his brother’s chair. Remus looked up at him and made a stupid face. Roman made one right back at his brother before squirming next to him, shoving him out of the way somewhat and squishing him against the other side of the chair. 

“Hey!” Remus exclaimed, only to be shushed immediately by everyone in the room. 

“Virgil. Is. Sleeping.” Patton gritted it out between clenched teeth, and Remus held his arms up in surrender. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he muttered. 

Roman gave him a sort of satisfied smirk and stole some of his popcorn. 

“Oh now you’re in for it,” Remus hissed at him. “I don’t care how many criminals you beat up tonight, you leave my fucking popcorn alone.” 

Roman’s laugh was deep, his face splitting into an amused sort of smile. “I missed you too, bro.” 

Remus rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You’re still a dork. Didn’t miss you at all.” 

Roman just grinned, flipping him off lazily. “Sure, whatever you say.” 

Patton chuckled to himself, watching the two of them. There was so much familial love and relief radiating off the two of them, he couldn’t help the small smile that graced his lips. Next to him, Virgil sniffled once in his sleep, stirring for only a moment before settling down. Patton’s fingers kept weaving their way through Virgil’s hair, and he refocused his attention on the movie they were watching, his small smile growing as Virgil unconsciously gripped him a little tighter in his sleepy state.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all get to see where Janus snuck off to next chapter


	12. Janus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying to get across just how hard Ellie is trying to make up for past mistakes and I'm not so sure how well it's coming across. Janus certainly doesn't believe her. :/

Janus had no sense of need to hang around and watch Patton and Virgil gaze lovingly into one another’s eyes while they wallowed in what they assumed were unrequited feelings. Not his idea of a good time. Sue him. 

However, the click of the door opening was much more intriguing, and as he tuned into that instead, Janus gave his surroundings a final cursory glance before departing as well, following the noise and the suspicious closed off meeting that Logan and Ellie appeared to be having in the other room. 

He’d have plenty of time later to observe Patton and Virgil awkwardly pining after one another. 

“-completely disappeared,” Logan finishes telling Ellie, and Janus can practically hear his disgruntled frown. 

“You’re sure it wasn’t just moved?” 

“No, I found the man Roman was fighting in a nearby dumpster.” 

“I trust that you finished him off?”

“Do I look like a child? Of course.” 

Ellie made a small noise of approval. 

“Besides,” Logan continued. “With the way Roman had left him, he wasn’t in any place to put up much of a fight-” 

  
Ellie appeared to have hushed him, as Logan’s voice died away with practiced ease. There was a moment of silence. Janus strained his ear against the door, wishing for Virgil’s uncanny hearing in that moment. 

“Janus,” Ellie called out, and his blood went cold. “If you want so badly to know what’s going on, you can just come inside.” 

_Don’t open the door, back away slowly, pretend that you aren’t here. Don’t open the door._ Janus began to back away, but he froze the moment the doorway yanked open for him, Logan looking a little tired and more than a little annoyed. There were speckles of red on his glasses, and one of his sleeves was ripped. 

“For someone who’s so intent on survival, your sense of self preservation is pretty shitty.” Ellie sat on top of her desk behind him, blowing a bubble before popping it. Her gum was orange. “You know, I’m getting real tired of you kids snooping on me,” she commented, though she didn’t really sound it. On the contrary, she seemed almost delighted. “Almost reminds me of when Logan was still just a kid.” 

Logan flushed. “You refused to tell me anything, what did you expect me to do?” he asked her. 

“Not sneak through the vents to listen in on my phone calls, that’s for sure,” Ellie replied dryly. “Besides, we finally agreed that there were some things better kept secrets, and some were better out in the open.” There was a charged spark in the air between them, a sort of tension that made Janus want to back out of the room slowly, the sort of tension that practically _screamed_ ‘tragic backstory.’

“Indeed,” Logan replied curtly. “And yet, it worked. You now allow me to assist you with your operations, even if there are… one or two items that you would prefer to keep to yourself.” 

_Oh, they’ve fought over this before,_ Janus thought. 

“Hey,” Ellie replied, her grin only a little forced. “A girl’s gotta have her secrets, right?” 

Janus offered her a smile, equally forced. “Of course.” _No._

Logan turned back to Ellie then. “As for the matter at hand…” 

“Yes,” Ellie replied. “You’re positive that you disposed of Eric? He would be an unfortunate figure to see pop up again in the future.” 

“He was an unfortunate figure when he popped up tonight,” Logan muttered to himself, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, then louder, “You are correct. He is no longer a part of the equation.” 

“Shit,” Ellie muttered. “Then Todd’s still out there. He has to be.” 

Logan’s brow furrowed. “To the best of our knowledge. I searched all of the surrounding streets. There was a lot of blood in the alley, but the trail leading away from the scene goes figuratively cold quite quickly. The police did not find a second body.” 

“Double shit,” Ellie mutters. 

_Wait just one fucking moment. Are they talking about the guy Virgil killed?_

“Hold up,” Janus interjected. “I believe that the man you’re referring to was… stabbed? Yes?”

“That’s the one,” Ellie confirmed. 

“Virgil said that he killed him. Sounded really broken up about it too. And you’re telling me that he just got up. Walked away. No biggie.” _Talk about conflicting stories._

Ellie grimaced. Logan became very interested in the wall behind him. 

Janus squinted at the two of them. 

“Yeah I don’t quite think the stabbing took.” Ellie finally said. 

“You don’t think the stabbing… took.” Janus repeated back at her, incredulous. 

“They never seem to…” Ellie sighed. “Look, you’re a smart kid.” 

Logan made a small noise of protest. Janus sneered at him. 

“Not as smart as Logan,” Ellie amended with a roll of her eyes, “But you’re still pretty smart. You can put two and two together.” 

_Strange man, works for Rise, can mysteriously survive stab wounds that should kill a normal man._ Janus’ eyes widened almost comically. “You said we were the only ones,” he accused her. 

Ellie tutted at him. “I said you were the only successful ones.” 

“And what exactly do you mean by that?” Janus asked her between gritted teeth. _I knew there was more she wasn’t telling us._ “In detail, if you will.” 

“I mean…” Ellie hesitated. “I mean that the age thing meant more than my father thought it did at first. If you were too old, the... procedure didn’t take to your DNA and you died. However, some kids were young enough that they could still adapt, but not quite young enough that their cells wanted to accept the change...” 

“They have built in weaknesses, flaws that came as a result of their enhanced abilities,” Logan finished for her. 

“Oh, and I suppose our friend from the alley’s weakness _wasn’t_ knives?” Janus asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Then, he paused. “You said they. How many of them are there?” 

Ellie and Logan shared a brief glance. “Seven. He always works in batches of seven,” Ellie finally replied. 

“Six now,” Logan amended dryly. “Eric’s weakness _did_ happen to be knives.” Janus took note of the slight splatter of blood on Logan. _Yikes._ He made a mental note not to cross Logan any more than he already had.

“Really?” he asked. 

“No, he had the ability to make you slow, sluggish, weak.” Ellie listed them off on her fingers with a wrinkled nose. “Only issue was, as weak as you were, he was. He couldn’t hinder you without hindering himself. Not exactly supersoldier material, that one. Eric was never very impressive.” 

“I suppose that’s his cause for giving Roman so much trouble,” Logan reasoned with a small sigh. 

There was a little warning bell going off in the back of Janus’ mind. Something wasn’t right here, something was _off._ He just couldn’t figure out what he was supposed to be confused about...

“I can’t believe you waited this long to tell us,” Janus muttered instead, disbelieving. “Don’t you think that we would have _wanted to know this?”_ He was practically hissing by the end of his sentence. “Every day, it’s something new with you people. I don’t believe it.” He groaned. “God, this is insufferable. So much is wrong with this situation, I don’t even know where to begin.” _Am I angry? Tired? Angry and tired?_

“Janus,” Ellie said softly. 

“No! I don’t want to hear it!” Janus turned on her, teeth slightly bared. He wasn’t stupid, he saw Logan move marginally closer to them out of the corner of his eye. _Careful._ “I have an earful for you that’s long in the making. First you kidnap us, and let me just start off by saying who _does_ that? I sound like a broken record by this point but seriously! Why would you think that was okay? Second-”

“My father.” 

Janus stopped, confused to have been cut off so soon into his rant. “Come again?” 

Ellie met his gaze, her eyes piercing straight through him in that way that Logan’s always seemed to. She held all the answers, she had the whole deck in her hands. He didn’t even have a seat at the poker table. “My father,” she repeated. “If he needed someone, something, he took it. That’s how it worked. That’s how he took the first batch of seven off the streets, and how he took the second batch too. Apparently, it’s harder to steal newborn babies than homeless teenagers, so your parents got paid instead.” 

Janus winced a little, on principle. 

She kept her eyes locked on his. “These were children, and now they’re in their late thirties and they haven’t seen the outside of a lab since they were fourteen. To be honest, I don’t think they ever imagined they would. Failures don’t exactly get paraded around and put on show for everyone. Logan and I thought they’d been, for lack of a nicer way to put it, disposed of. It’s as much of a shock to you as it is to me.” 

Janus winced a little more noticeably. “Great. So we have seven- er, six emotionally inept murder machines on the loose and you didn’t feel the need to tell us any of that. Just great. Any other secrets you’re keeping from us?” 

Ellie looked him up and down, analyzing. “None that I haven’t already gone out of my way to hint at, in order to properly warn you.” 

“Fantastic,” Janus said with pursed lips. “Because that’s second on my list. I’ve been saying it, everyone else has been saying it, and I’m sure you’re tired of hearing it by now but _damn_ you can’t just expect us to trust you and keep things like this from us. You kidnapped me in front of my grandmother, you take us here, say that it’s ‘dangerous’ to be a part of the outside world, keep us locked up _no better than your own father,-”_

Ellie flinches at that. Her whole body seems to cave in on itself, and then she retreats behind a mask of expressionless disinterest. 

_Good. She should feel bad._ A twisted sort of satisfaction makes itself at home in Janus’ chest. 

“-and you can’t even fathom the fact that maybe, just maybe, some of us don’t want to take part in your stupid daddy issues oriented war, and perhaps, we wanted to spend this summer peacefully, and _not_ tugged away from our families and loved ones? You say you aren’t keeping us captive, you say it over and over, but you don’t let us _leave._ You don’t even let us _tell our families we’re safe.”_ Janus was livid. “The only fucking person who gives a damn about me on this entire shitty planet is my grandmother, and you’re crazy if you don’t think she’s going out of her mind with worry about me right now. Just think about those of us with families who _actually_ care about them.” 

Logan looked a little stunned, like this entire explosion wasn’t a month in the making, like Janus hadn’t become a ball of resented anger from the moment he’d stuck the needle in his neck. Janus _relished_ that look. He _adored_ it. It meant that Logan was confused and horrified and maybe even a little hurt. It meant that even after all of his sarcastic barbs, he’d finally found something that could crack that armor, could chip at that porcelain shield. 

“Whatever,” he hissed out. “Just because your lives are so fucked up that you can’t tell the difference between right and wrong doesn’t mean that the rest of us are in the same boat. Maybe try to practice what you preach for once.” 

And he stormed out of the room, absolutely fuming. 

He made it about as far as the kitchen before Patton found him. 

“Janus?” 

He turned around. _Oh great, exactly who I wanted to see. It must be my birthday._ “Thought you were still cuddling the love of your life,” he said dryly. 

Patton flushed for only a moment. “The movie ended a while ago,” he replied vaguely. “Virgil wanted to get cleaned up. Can’t really blame him…”

“Well you can tell him he no longer has a dead man’s blood on his hands, so that should clear his anxiety about all that right up,” Janus replied, just as dryly as before. He got out the electric tea kettle, a peculiar teal colored thing, and began filling it with water. “Spread the word, alert the masses. They’ll be tickled pink, I’m sure.” 

Confusion creased Patton’s smooth features. “What do you mean?” 

Janus turned on the gas stove. It clicked to life with a _clackclackclack._ “Believe it or not, the Puppeteer kept even more secrets from us. Rise has their own supersoldiers. Well, sort of. They don’t sound very super.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Patton asked him, crossing his arms and sliding onto the nearest of the round tables, kicking his legs a little bit. 

“I mean that when Ellie mentioned those rounds of kids, the ones that were older and came before us, she neglected to mention that some of them survived the process. Apparently, daddy dearest was keeping his secret shame all locked away, and only just now sent them out to play. Interesting, I would have always thought his secret shame would have been her…” 

Patton flinched at that. “Let’s not lash out,” he said softly. “She isn’t here right now and it won’t do you any good anyway.” 

Janus smiled at him. It didn’t meet his eyes. “Oh it does me loads of good,” he replied. “Sometimes, the best way to make yourself feel good is to make the people who hurt you feel _bad.”_

“When did she hurt you?” Patton asked him with a frown. 

“Come on, I can’t _seriously_ be the only one who sees this for what it is, can I?” Janus rolled his eyes. “Why do I care? I never expected you to actually understand.” 

“No!” Patton nearly shouted, and Janus couldn’t help his small jump of surprise. “Sorry,” Patton said, voice a little softer. “Please, explain it to me, kiddo. I _want_ to try and understand…” 

Janus looked the other boy up and down, from the top of his curly blonde locks to the ratty, bright red converse on his feet. Patton’s eyes looked through you the same way that Logan’s did, but instead of his stare coming across as cold and disconcerted, Patton’s eyes saw through you in a way that let you see right back into his own if you so chose. 

Patton’s eyes were full of hurt and confusion and a little bit of hope. Patton really did want to understand, even if he couldn’t quite see through his own optimism. Janus sighed. 

“Fine.” 

Patton brightened in a heartbeat. “Really?” 

“Don’t make me regret it,” he warned the other boy. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it. You always look on the bright side. And that can be _insufferable.”_ He didn’t miss the way some of the excitement in Patton’s eyes died, and a sudden twist of guilt ran through his entire body. 

_I get why Virgil would put his own wellbeing on the line just to keep Patton happy,_ he thought begrudgingly. _I don’t like it but I get it._

“You look at everything through rose colored glasses, and everything’s a new adventure, a new fairy tale for you. None of this is an adventure. This isn’t a vacation, Patton. Virgil stabbed a guy last night and we’ve been living here for a month not because we chose to but because this is where they put us and that’s where we’ll stay until they move us. This isn’t an excuse to make friends. This isn’t a walk in the park. If you really wanted to leave and you _couldn’t,_ how would you feel?” 

Patton took the time to legitimately consider this, despite the growing hurt in his eyes. Janus appreciated that much at least. When the other boy finally spoke, he didn’t make eye contact. His words were small, quiet little whispers. “I would feel exactly like you’re showing me right now.”

Janus hesitated, before a grim smile settled onto his face. _Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all,_ he thought. _At least he’s listening to me. At least he can feel what I’m feeling._ “I suppose you’re right,” he replied silkily. “So it’s my turn to ask you for clarification, understanding, whatever you’d like to define it as.” 

Patton looked up at him. “Sure.” 

“Why do you insist on seeing the best in people like Ellie?” 

Patton just sighed, long and put out. There was a moment where Janus thought Patton might genuinely be considering just getting up and leaving. When Patton spoke, his voice was louder than before, but his tone was just as somber. 

“When I was nine, a kid beat up one of my classmates on the playground.” 

Janus blinked owlishly at him. Whatever he’d expected Patton to say, it certainly wasn’t that. 

Patton’s eyes weren’t focused on him anymore. They weren’t focused on the table or the shitty blue carpet or the cracked paint on the walls. “He wasn’t a good kid by any conventional standards, and he wasn’t a funny kid. He didn’t have any friends, and just about everyone in our class hated him. He didn’t turn his homework in on time, and he liked to sleep while the teacher went over our spelling worksheets. He drew on tests. His parents had divorced the year or two before, and he ate these gross sandwiches that he apparently put together himself. One of them was ham and peanut butter.” 

Janus made a face. The tea kettle started whistling, and he took it off of the flame.

Patton chuckled. “Yeah, he didn’t know how to make sandwiches. That’s not the point of this story though. The kid he beat up was called Bryan Taylor. He was a cute kid, with those big blue eyes and that soft brown hair that teachers couldn’t help but coo over. He was perfect and lovely and he was so good at baseball that his parents just _knew_ he was going to be a star player when he grew up. He liked to flirt with all the girls and he hand delivered chocolate to all the teachers during holidays, even the ones who didn’t have him.”

“He sounds like a nice kid,” Janus offered, trying to figure out how in the world this would lead to Patton’s world views. 

Patton looked up at him, his own big blue eyes twisted with anger. “He was a horrible kid.” 

“Oh?” Janus prompted. He bustled around, grabbing two mugs off of the shelf and filling them with the near boiling water. He dropped the tea bags in with a practiced sort of ease. Patton’s sudden anger unnerved him, but that didn’t mean he had to show it. 

“I mean Janus, he was just awful. He was mean, and he was always angry inside, and he absolutely hated everyone around him. You know why this kid beat him up?” 

“Why?” Janus asked, half humoring Patton, half genuinely curious. 

“Because Bryan was burning the ants on the playground with a magnifying glass.” Patton smiled a little. “And when this kid asked him to stop, Bryan didn’t want to. He just _didn’t see any other way to get him to stop.”_

“I don’t see your point,” Janus replied, only half lying.

Patton just turned his smile in his direction. “I don’t judge a book by its cover, or even by what’s within the pages. Sometimes, it’s less about the content of the book and more about the subtext.” 

_What in the-?_ The tea should have steeped enough by now. Janus fished the teabags out with a spoon. 

“I’m blessed with an advantage that others don’t get,” Patton continued. “I’ve watched good and bad people time and time again, and over that time I’ve learned to judge people a little less by their actions, and more by their feelings and motives. I’ve watched good people do bad things for the right reasons and bad people do good things for the wrong reasons. A good person might only do a bad thing for the right reason because they need to do what they feel in their heart is right.”

“The kid still beat Bryan up,” Janus protested, Patton’s point starting to really sink in. He _despised_ how logical it was. “How can you be okay with that?” 

“Because,” Patton responded, his eyes big and wide and a little too knowing for Janus’ liking, “that kid hated _every single second_ of it.” 

Janus frowned. 

“Besides,” Patton said, “If he didn’t step in, who would have stood up for the ants? Surely they would be at least a little bit grateful if they knew what amount of trouble he got into just because he wanted them to have a chance to live.” 

Janus simply offered Patton his mug. It was blue with fluffy white clouds on it.

Patton accepted his mug with a small nod of gratitude. “I’m going to check on Virgil,” he said into the silence, and then he left the kitchen, and Janus was alone again. 

“Weird kid,” he muttered, turning to his own tea. 

“You don’t really mean that.” 

The voice startled him, and Janus almost spilled his tea he turned around so fast. Immediately, his face hardened. Ellie was leaning in the doorway. “I have nothing to say to you,” he said. 

“Good, because I don’t have much to say to you either,” she replied, walking over and handing him a piece of paper. 

Janus squinted at it. There was a long string of letters and numbers on it. “What is this.”

Ellie cracked a grin at him, an action that made him seethe with anger. “It’s the wifi password,” she replied, like it was obvious. 

His phone had been on his nightstand since he’d gotten there. A charger had been provided, found curled up in the bottom of his nightstand’s drawer, but he hadn’t seen much point in charging it before then. “And what exactly am I supposed to do with this?” he asked her, suspicious. _What’s her angle? There’s always an angle._

Ellie shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. Use it, share it with your friends, text your grandmother. Call the cops for all I care. It’s yours now.” 

Janus squinted at her. “You’re surprisingly nonchalant about this.” His hands curled protectively around the little scrap of paper as he spoke. _This could ruin your life. I could ruin your life._

“You’re surprisingly unobservant,” she shot right back at him. “I’ve given you everything you need, have you still not figured out my final secret?” 

“N-” And the word died on Janus’ lips as he thought back to their conversation earlier. _Oh._

Ellie smiled at him. “Smart boy. Go ahead, ask the question.” 

“He always works in sevens,” Janus whispered quietly. 

“Well that right there is a statement,” Ellie informed him helpfully, but the grin on her face had spread even wider. “Try again.” 

Janus swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “Who’s the seventh kid?” he asked her. “Me, Logan, Patton, Virgil, Roman, Remus. There’s only six of us. Who’s the seventh kid?” 

Ellie’s smile was downright thrilled. “You’re looking right at her,” she replied, and a whole bunch of things clicked into place. 

Oh. 

  
Oh _no._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have NO IDEA how long I've been waiting to spill this secret lol. I'm curious (if you want to of course) to know what your theories are for what Ellie's power is, and also if you figured it out before Janus. I'll help you out and say right off the bat that she only has one (since she's older than the other kids and it didn't stick as well) but I've been super subtly alluding to it for a long time now and I've just been so excited to tell you guys that part!! 
> 
> Also, I realized that I didn't have any real Patton and Janus interaction yet in this story and that is a CRIME so I added that on to the end of the chapter lmao
> 
> Anywho you guys are amazing readers, keep being awesome, and I hope you're enjoying the story so far! <3


	13. Logan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is... the fabled Logan backstory chapter... it's finally here

Logan is annoyed. If things continue like this, that may become his default setting. That thought makes him grumpy, which is synonymous with… annoyed. 

Feelings are disgusting. 

The only ones keeping any semblance of their usual shaky normal around here is somehow Remus, a fact that he’s increasingly thankful for. 

Janus has been brooding for three days, and Patton’s been waffling on whether or not he should call his parents for just as long. Virgil’s been a nervous wreck, but what else is new, and Roman? Roman’s been… odd. 

Roman’s been acting like what he really wants to say has been on the tip of his tongue and he’s doing everything he can to hold it back. This in itself is strange, because even within Logan’s limited experience with Roman, Roman does not hold anything back. 

Patton decides to call his parents on the fourth day of oddness. The phone barely rings for a moment before his mother picks up. 

It’s a call filled with fearful tears and joyful sobbing and constant reassurance. At one point, he gets Virgil on the phone to confirm to his mother that he is indeed alright as well, that the two of them are safe, and  _ no, they got tugged away on vacation with friends last minute mom, and I’m so sorry I didn’t have cellular data.  _ He hangs up eventually, but not until he’s promised to send her dozens of pictures of him and Virgil and to give her daily updates because  _ he scared the life out of her, don’t you ever do that again Patton, do you hear me?  _

Based on what little Logan knows of actual parents, he’s shocked that Patton’s mother just buys his fabricated story so quickly. It’s poorly crafted and full of loose threads. Patton brought up friends that his mother had never met before. Why would he leave if all of his stuff was in his apartment? Who was funding this mystery trip? Then again, Patton’s mother might just be relieved to hear that he’s okay. After all, it’s not like her son was prone to up and disappearing for a month at a time in the past. 

Logan would know. He’s read all their files. He’s kept an eye out for all of them for years. 

So Patton, with time, becomes a little less weird. Virgil is close behind him in the vein of returning to normal, though the two of them still sit a little closer together on the couch than is strictly necessary, a habit they picked up after Virgil’s stabbing mishap.  _ That must have less to do with them acting odd and more to do with their inclination for romantic infatuation,  _ Logan deduces, nodding to himself.  _ Emotions.  _

Janus doesn’t get any happier. No one is surprised. 

Roman bites the metaphorical bullet on Wednesday in the middle of sparring and blurts out what’s on his mind. Logan’s beat him consistently, he’s beat him six rounds in a row. 

_ Wham.  _ Roman’s pinned to the mat. Make that seven. 

“Nice,” Roman tells him softly. He isn’t quite making eye contact, and his cheeks are flushed, most likely because of the physical exertion. 

“What?” Logan teases him gently, something he’s gotten better at over the last couple of weeks. He offers the other boy a hand up. “No semi-scathing remark? No claims of cheating?” 

Roman looks into his eyes and asks him softly, “How do you know the Puppeteer?” 

Confusion courses through him. “I believed you were aware as to our meeting.” He chooses his words carefully. “Ellie has been a part of my life since before I can remember. I owe everything to her.” 

_ He’s four and a quarter and the room is spinning. His eyelids are heavy and his glasses are slipping down his nose, but he can’t seem to bring his arms to work. The lights are out, as per usual. There’s a methodical beeping in the background. He thinks it’s correlated to his heartbeat.  _

_ The room is metal, the same dull grey that every other room of his home is. No, not his home. This is simply the place he’s being kept. He lives here by default.  _

_ The IV in his arm hurts, but he doesn’t dare take it out. Sir threw such a tantrum last time. Logan shivers, looking around at his surroundings once more. Unsurprisingly, nothing has changed. They didn’t even leave him a book.  _

_ He won’t cry this time, he can’t. No matter how suffocating the darkness seems, no matter how alone, how hollow he feels inside, he’ll push through, because he’s stronger than everyone else. He can take more than everyone else can. Sir reminds him of that all the time. He knows he’s stronger, so why are there tears already welling in his eyes?  _

_ He’s so alone.  _

_ The door creaks open slowly, spilling light from the hallway into the semi dark room. Logan’s head snaps up, and he grins despite himself. Sir would hate it if he telegraphed his emotions like that, but he can’t help it.  _

_ “Hey there.” Ellie’s voice is almost forcibly upbeat. She’s young and unscarred, and her big blue eyes meet his own. Padding into the room on near silent feet, she takes a seat in front of his bed, criss cross applesauce, the way she usually did.  _

_ “You came back,” Logan says softly, trying to keep the relief out of his voice. Weak, weak, weak, runs through his mind. He banishes the thought.  _

_ “Of course I did, little berry, you didn’t think I would come back to see my favorite person in this dump?”  _

_ Logan giggled at that. “Don’t say things like that, you’ll get us in trouble!”  _

_ “Me just being here could get us in trouble,” Ellie pointed out.  _

_ Logan fell silent. She was right.  _

_ “So,” Ellie moved on, nodding at the IV. “What’s Dad- er, Sir got you on now?” Ellie hasn’t been allowed to call her father Dad since before Logan was born. She rarely slips up in front of him anymore.  _

_ Logan just shrugs, noncommittal. “Dunno,” he replies with a frown at the needle in his arm. He used to hate needles, back when he was littler. Now he’s just indifferent. “They didn’t tell me.”  _

_ Ellie frowned at that.  _

_ “Apparently, I have high brain activity,” Logan told her, frowning as well. He didn’t like it when Ellie frowned. She should be happy, she deserved to be happy. He just wanted her to be happy. _

“Everything?” Roman asked him, biting his lip. He doesn’t take the hand up, he doesn’t even seem to see it, so Logan stays where he is, knee pinning him to the mat. 

“Well,” Logan paused. “I suppose not  _ everything, _ seeing as she did not contribute to my genetic makeup, but I do certainly owe her a great deal. She risked far too much simply by taking me with her…” 

Roman’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean by that?” 

_ Logan’s five now, standing on the side of a ring not unlike the one he has Roman pinned to at this very moment. His left hand is clasped tightly in that of an older man’s, and even though his palm is getting sweaty and his fingers are beginning to tingle with discomfort, he makes no move to free himself. That would be a bad idea.  _

_ Ellie stands in the middle of the ring. All around her, various men and women lay, knocked flat on their backs or curled slightly in on themselves. They all wear the same black vests. Purple and black bruises are forming somewhere on every single one of them.  _

_ One last man stands in front of the fifteen year old girl, his hands only shaking slightly as he raises them. Ellie looks over at her father for directions, and Logan’s chest twists. Ellie looks bored. Her breathing isn’t even laboured.  _

_ “Just finish it,” Sir directs her, and it’s over almost before Logan can blink. Ellie was poised, ready to go, and the words hadn’t even left Sir’s lips before she started moving, faster than Logan would have thought she could move. After all, her enhancements had nothing to do with speed.  _

_  
_ _ It only takes two swift hits and the man crumples to the floor, barely even able to fight back. _

_ Sir made a pleased noise in the back of his throat, looking down at Logan. “My Ellie certainly has come a long way, don’t you think, Logan?”  _

_ “Of course,” Logan replies immediately. There are certain answers engraved on his mind. Of course Ellie has been improving.Yes, he understands why Sir doesn’t have much time for him. No, he’s not bothered by the needles.  _

_ Sir smiles down at him, and some little part of him grasps at the approval. “I’m glad you agree with me,” he says to Logan, before turning back to Ellie and the soldiers surrounding her, doing their best to regain their footing. “Again!” he barks, and Ellie’s face crumples. His grip on Logan’s hand tightens.  _

“She took me with her.” Logan frowned. “When she ran away from her father. It was to my knowledge that this information was public knowledge.”

“Ah.” Roman nods. He’s gazing into Logan’s eyes with his own, chocolatey brown and deep enough to drown in. He’s studying him, and that makes Logan want to fidget in place, a behavior that was forced out of him too long ago to remember. 

_ He doesn’t remember much about the action itself, just a few details. He doesn’t think he wants to remember more than a few details. It was a warm night, despite the sun having gone down hours ago. _

_ “Do you trust me?” Ellie asked him, her eyes wide and serious. Not fake serious, like when she was trying to make Logan laugh, but real serious, when she wanted him to answer like an adult.  _

_ “Of course.” He didn’t have to think twice. He knew he trusted Ellie like he knew that grass was green. Ellie had been kind and funny, and she distracted him whenever he got too nervous. She came to visit him when he was having what Sir liked to call his ‘sessions,’ and sometimes, if she could sneak food, she would give him extra halves of bread rolls or little hard candies that she smuggled. Ellie visited him when he was lonely, and Ellie promised him that she’d keep him safe.  _

_ She took his hand. “Whatever you do, don’t look back.”  _

_ Logan followed her out of his room.  _

_ “Close your eyes and count to three hundred, okay?” She told him. _

_ He pouted. “I can do that in minutes,” he protested.  _

_ Ellie just chuckled. It sounded forced. “Then count to three thousand.”  _

_ At some point, she picked him up. He tucked his head into the crook of her neck and started counting softly to himself. Her dark brown hair tickled his nose. He could smell her cheap shampoo and laundry detergent.  _

_ People were shouting, but he squeezed his eyes shut even tighter and kept counting.  _

“I was only five when Ellie ran. She was fifteen at the time. There was a great enough risk as it was for her to get caught by her father or any of his numerous employees, and she only worsened her odds by bringing along a child,” Logan replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I was, for lack of a better term, dead weight.” 

Roman didn’t seem happy about that either. “You aren’t dead weight,” he said. 

“Of course not, now I serve a purpose,” Logan said with a nod. “I have been attempting to make up for the past for several years now, to properly show my gratitude to her, for everything she has done for me.” 

“You’re more than a machine, Lo. You don’t just serve a purpose, you’re your own person.” 

Logan shrugged. “That is just a fact of my life. I was dead weight, and now I am weight with a purpose.” 

“That doesn’t sound like a fun life to live.” 

“It is my life. It is quite satisfactory for me.” 

Roman frowned, changing the topic. “So what, Ellie ran away with you when you were five and brought you here?” 

Logan shook his head. “We didn’t come straight here.” 

_ They’d been on the streets for weeks, scavenging and nicking food whenever they could. At one point, Ellie pickpocketed two hundred dollars and an engagement ring off of a passerby. Logan didn’t even know she’d known how to pickpocket.  _

_ “Dad taught me,” Ellie had replied when he asked, and refused to say anything past that.  _

_ That didn’t matter anymore. They were inside now, looking out of place in a nice suburban living room. There were little blue flowers in the window, and the sofa and armchair were emerald green.  _

_ “Why are we here?” Logan asked her. “What is this place?”  _

_ Ellie just smiled and carded her fingers through his hair, working at a couple of the knots. “We’re safe, little berry. We’re safe.”  _

_ Logan wrinkled his nose. “Mmh-not little,” he protested though he didn’t object to her gentle ministrations. He was tired and hungry and he’d woken up in an unfamiliar place.  _

_ “Sure you aren’t,” Ellie said softly, still running her fingers over his scalp. “You’re all big and grown up and mature, hmm? You’ve already run away from home, that’s got to give you some maturity points.”  _

_ “If we’re not at home, then where are we?” Logan asked her.  _

_ Ellie hesitated. Finally, she said, “That’s not our home anymore, Logan. This is our new home, for now.”  _

_ Logan looked around the room. “For now?” he asked again.  _

_ Ellie nodded. “For now. As long as it works for us.”  _

_ Logan looked up at her. “Can I have a hug?” he asked her tentatively.  _

_ “Of course,” Ellie replied softly. “You never have to even ask for a hug, okay? C’mere, kiddo.” _

_ Logan surged forward, hugging her tightly. He wouldn’t usually be so forward, but right now all he wants is to be wrapped up in someone’s arms and to feel safe. Ellie seems to know this.  _

_ “Hey,” she says softly, and he looks up at her. “You’ll never have to feel afraid again, okay? I promise. As long as I’m around, I’ll make sure you never have to be afraid ever again.”  _

_ “Really?” Logan’s eyes were the size of dinner plates.  _

_ “Really,” Ellie promised him, squeezing him a little tighter. “We’re gonna be okay.”  _

“That’s where you met Remy,” Roman guessed, and Logan nodded. 

“Yes, we lived with a woman who fostered numerous children for three years. She was nice enough to take up off of the streets. Remy and Ellie were quite close in age, so the two of them became quite close over that time.” 

“But you moved to the Safehouse after those three years?” 

Logan nodded. “Ellie was eighteen at the time.”

_ “Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happy birthday to uuuuuussssss, happy birthday to us!” Ellie cheered as Logan blew out the candles on the cake, all twenty six of them.  _

_ Logan grinned despite himself as Ellie hoisted him into the air and spun him around.  _

_ “We’re finally twenty six!” Ellie cheered. “How does it feel to be twenty six, Logan?”  _

_ They’d been celebrating their combined birthdays together for three years now. The year before, they’d ‘turned’ twenty four. They hadn’t celebrated birthdays before Logan was five, so Ellie declared that she’d share her birthday with him from now on, and that would be that.  _

_ It was also the anniversary of the day they ran away, but neither of them mentioned that. Neither of them wanted to mention that. _

_ Eight year old Logan looked up at her, frowning. He had gotten new glasses last week, and they were just a little too big for his face. “Last year, when I turned twenty four, you refused to allow me to drink alcohol. I trust that the restrictions are the same this year?”  _

_ Ellie’s laugh was bubbly. “Sorry kiddo, you may be twenty six in spirit, but you’re still only eight in body.”  _

_ Logan nodded. “Very well, I expected as much. Twenty six feels the same as twenty four. I am beginning to assume that you have just combined our ages so that you may feel older and more mature.”  _

_ Ellie grinned cockily. “I am older and more mature, little berry.”  _

_ “My point still stands.” Logan crossed his arms defiantly.  _

_ “I will neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of your statement, Lo.” Ellie squatted down then, something that Logan would usually hate, but since it was Ellie, it was fine. Her big blue eyes were level with his own. “Twenty six is a very special year for me, Lo, you know that, right?” She asked him.  _

_ Logan cocked his little head. “You are eighteen now.”  _

_ Ellie nodded. “And being eighteen comes with a couple of perks.”  _

_ “You’re allowed to vote,” Logan replied.  _

_  
_ _ Clearly, that was not the answer Ellie was expecting. The laugh that bubbled out of her was more genuine than anything Logan had ever heard. “Sure, sure.” Ellie shook her head. “I’m more referring to other, slightly more important benefits…”  _

_ That made him frown. “I’ve been doing some research and I don’t think that you should discard the benefits of voting so frivolously. Voting is important because it allows the people to decide who makes the big decisions, and the big decisions impact not only America, but also the rest of the world.”  _

_ “I know, I know,” Ellie said with another laugh. “That’s a ten dollar word right there, I see you’ve been reading the dictionary. And you’re totally right to lecture me on voting. I know how important it is.”  _

_ “Good,” Logan said with a placated nod, before giving her a toothy grin. “Because voting is one of our rights as American citizens.”  _

_ “Oh for the love of- Logan, we’re moving,” Ellie said, still laughing. “We’re going to live somewhere else.”  _

_ Logan frowned, looking around them. “Why can’t we stay here? It’s nice here. I like it here.” _

_ “I know.” Ellie sounded a bit like a broken record. “But it’s not safe here. We’re putting everyone here in danger. You don’t want them in danger, do you?”  _

_ Logan shook his head quickly. Then he paused. “How will you pay for the house?”  _

_ Ellie just ruffled his hair. “You just leave that to me, okay?” _

_ “Okay.” He didn’t question Ellie, she was always right.  _

“And she just bought the house?” Roman squinted at him suspiciously. “Did she steal it?” 

“What? No.” Honestly, Logan had no clue. Ellie hadn’t told him, and he had never questioned her on it. He wasn’t particularly sure he wanted to know where the money had come from, what identification she’d used to buy the house, and how she’d kept it off the record. 

“Wow,” Roman said with a small shake of his head, looking around the room. “I can’t believe you’ve lived here since you were eight...” 

Logan looked around the room as well, before shrugging jerkily. “It has simply been my residence for the past twelve years,” he replied. “It is my ‘normal.’” 

_ He’s ten, typing away at the computer Ellie gave him, searching and searching again. His room isn’t yet decorated, not that it ever will be very decorated, and he’s been hunched over the small screen for hours now. There’s a small knock at his open door.  _

_ “Hey there little Berry,” Ellie says with a grin. She’s leaning in the doorway, something eggshell white and vaguely bowl shaped in her hands.  _ __  
_  
_ __ Logan usually grins too, whenever he hears his nickname/new last name. He’d only chosen it because Ellie had called him little berry since before he could remember. Perhaps she always had. Now, he just nods at her and shoots back a quick “Hello.”

_ Ellie walked into his room carefully, not bothering to close the door behind her. There’s no need, they’re the only people in this whole place. “Whatcha up to there, kiddo?”  _

_ Logan doesn’t look up from the screen. “I’m attempting to discover the identity of my mother.” _

_ Ellie’s face falls immediately. Her whole posture stiffens, and Logan can practically feel the temperature in the room drop. He doesn’t even need to look up to know that she’s upset.  _

_ “I haven’t found anything yet,” he continues, like she hasn’t advised against him searching for this yet. “Though that is in part attributed to the fact that I do not have a last name.”  _

_ “You do have a last name.” Ellie’s voice sounds hurt. “I was there when you chose it.”  _

_ “Yes, but it’s not my real last name,” Logan replies, distracted, unaware of how insensitive he’s sounding. “I want to know my real last name.”  _

_ “And you want to find your real family too, I assume?” Ellie asks him. She sounds a little afraid, though why Logan has no clue.  _

_ “Yes, I am looking through records of nearby hospitals from my year of birth,” Logan says with a sigh.  _

_ “You won’t be able to find them.” Ellie’s grip tightens on the object in her hands. “You weren’t born in a hospital.”  _

_ Logan looks up at her for the first time. “How do you know this?”  _

_ “Because…” Ellie frowns, clearly unhappy. “Because Sir told me that we would be able to keep you, since… your mother died in childbirth.”  _

_ The world seemed to stop for a minute. Logan froze. “Oh,” he said very carefully, keeping his face void of emotion. Even at ten, he knew how to do that.  _

_ “I’m sorry, berry,” Ellie whispered. “You never seemed to care about this before now…”  _

_ “I had never thought to care, I always had you,” Logan replied, just as quietly.  _

_ “You still have me,” Ellie told him.  _

_ “I know, I just…” Logan trailed off. He didn’t know how to explain how it felt like Ellie was drifting away from him. She stayed later and later in her office, she lowered her voice whenever he walked in on her taking a phone call, and she had taken to locking the cabinet to the right of her desk. Logan had never been inside of that cabinet, so the action in and of itself was quite strange. He felt like she was slipping through his fingers and he didn’t know how to help. He just didn’t know how to tell her that. _

_ “Oh.” Ellie seemed to understand. She always understood. “C’mere, little berry.”  _

_ Logan didn’t hesitate, he practically crawled into her lap and hugged her. He didn’t ask for hugs anymore, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want them.  _

_ “I promise I’ll take more time out of my day for you, okay?” she whispered into his hair. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy.”  _

_ “What have you been doing?” he asked her.  _

_ Ellie chuckled. “Oh, this and that…” She was deflecting.  _

_ “You’re trying to stop him.”  _

_ “Hmm?”  _

_ “Your father.”  _

_ There was a pause. “You may just be right about that, kiddo.”  _

_ Logan let out a little hum. “I have it on good authority that I’m always right.”  _

_ Ellie laughed at that. “I did say that, didn’t I? Well, how about this. When you’re a little itty bit older, I’ll let you help out with my work, okay? Nothing too serious, but I’ll let you in on a couple of my secrets. How does that sound?”  _

_ “Okay,” Logan agreed.  _

_ “And in return for me being so distant, from now on you’re allowed one ‘Ellie stop working’ pass per week, how about that?” She bargained.  _

_ “I’ll have my people look it over,” Logan replied, very seriously. That made her laugh, which in turn made him smile. His smile died a little bit as he asked his next question. “If you knew my parents, why won’t you tell me about them?”  _

_ Ellie’s smile died a little as well. “I didn’t know your parents well, kiddo. I- I just don’t think you should go snooping around if you won’t like whatever you happen to find. I’ll tell you about my work secrets if you let me keep a few to myself, okay?”  _

_ Logan thought it over. He would never meet his mother. Whoever his father was, he was clearly absent, clearly didn’t care enough about the kid he had to go looking for him. His father might not even know he had a kid, might not want a kid.  _

_ Logan frowned. He didn’t want a father like Ellie had, he wanted a father who was cheerful and funny and never failed to make him laugh. He wanted a father that cooked bad mac and cheese and protested that he’d never learned how to before. He wanted a father who treated him like an adult, because he could function like one if he needed to. He wanted a father who knew when he was sad from just a look, a father who had been there all his life. He wanted a father who acted the way Ellie did with him.  _

_ He nodded. “If my father didn’t care enough to look for me, I don’t want to know him,” he replied, closing the computer screen definitively. “Besides, I have you.”  _

_ Logan pretended that he couldn’t see the slight tears budding at the corners of Ellie’s eyes as she smiled at him.  _

“That’s one hell of a normal, Lo.” Roman sighed, pushing Logan’s knee off of him with a slight  _ oof.  _

Logan, startled, loses his balance and stumbles before regaining it. By the time he’s standing upright, the other boy has joined him, standing at his full height and looming a couple of inches over Logan. “I do not understand,” he said with a small frown. 

“Well-” Roman looks frustrated for a moment, more with himself than Logan. “Childhoods are supposed to be filled with laughter and smiles. You’re supposed to do stupid stuff and get away with it just because you just  _ can,  _ and you’re supposed to be surrounded with a sense of unchecked childhood wonder. You’re supposed to feel loved and accepted, and like you’re a part of a  _ family _ .” 

Logan looks around them. Remus and Patton are sparring off to the side and he watches as Remus hoists Patton up in the air and contorts his own body, slamming Patton down on the mat. 

Patton lets out a giggle. “Good one!” 

Ellie and Remy are standing in the corner, discussing something important no doubt, but they both look up at the sound of Patton hitting the mat. Ellie says something in Remy’s ear and he grins. 

Logan thinks back to the pancakes Ellie made for him when he was sick, and the trampoline that mysteriously appeared in the gym after Logan mentioned wanting one offhand. He thinks of all the nights where he begged Ellie to read him  _ just one more  _ book which turned into two more and then three more and then five more. He thinks about the time he got cabin fever four years ago and Ellie dressed them all up in scarves and hats and mittens and bulky coats until he couldn’t even recognize himself beneath all the clothing and took him to get hot cocoa at Dunkin Doughnuts. He thinks about the slightly burnt mac and cheese that Ellie stubbornly refused to make properly, even now, and the exquisite, several tiered birthday cakes she seems to make without breaking a sweat every year on their birthdays. 

“I do feel like part of a family,” Logan replied softly. “Ellie may not have given birth to me, but she’s been more of a parent to me than anyone else could ever be.” 

Roman looked him up and down at that, smiling a little. “She seems really important to you,” he replies. 

“I would give my life for her,” Logan replied without a second thought.

“And would she do the same for you?” Roman asked him. 

Logan hesitated. “Of course.” 

He didn’t know. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed! You guys have all been so freaking sweet and awesome and you never fail to bring a grin to my face. I just love every single one of you. <3


	14. Remus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Remus' mini chapter! It's a little shorter than some of the others, and more or less just to jog me back into action with this story (sorry for the wait, guys!). I shoehorned it in because he's such a fun character to write and just how could I not? With that said though, Remus does say some... Remus-like things in this chapter, so that's the warning for you guys now. With that said, hope you enjoy! :D

Remus was having an absolute fucking blast. Not only were they kidnapped (from their own homes!) by a pretty boy, but his darling brother took about six seconds to fall for said boy and now they were being encouraged to beat people up. This was a dream come true. 

Remus didn’t have many friends growing up, a fact that honestly didn’t bother him that much. Sure, he was a bit of a problem child, but if he wanted to vibe, who was going to get in his way? Student counselors apparently, and the principal. That didn’t stop him from trying. 

All else aside, this was pretty much everything Remus had hoped for over the summer. He got to check ‘kidnapped’ off of his bucket list, as well as ‘torment tortured souls’ and ‘be allowed to fight people without repercussions’. It was going to be a good year, he could just feel it. 

Of course, he was absolutely over the moon when he was chosen next to go out on a mission. Logan was going with him, to keep him in check and to make sure he wasn’t planning to do anything rash or stupid, or whatever. It was going to be awesome! 

He practically skipped all the way to Remy’s car, where Logan and Remy were waiting with twin expressions on their faces; lips pursed, eyes clouded with worry. 

“Hey dipshits!” Remus greeted them cheerfully. “I’m ready to stab people!” 

Remy shook his head. “Don’t joke about that…” he chastised. 

“It’s  _ fine,”  _ Remus replied with a roll of his eyes and a big grin. “Virgin didn’t even kill that person, he like,  _ barely _ even grazed his internal organs.” 

“Yes, I suppose that is no big deal,” Logan replied, with all the deadpan excitement of someone absolutely  _ dreading  _ this outing with Remus. 

Remus just smiled cheerfully at the other boy. 

“Of course,” Logan continued, “there will be no stabbing on this outing, intentional or otherwise. We are simply doing reconisinse-”

“Yeah yeah, I know,” Remus cut him off with a wave of his hand, smile now turning to a pout. “Snooping around whatever dumb facility made us so special. Come on Daddy, you never let me do anything fun!” 

Logan’s left eye twitched. 

“Alright, in the car,” Remy ordered them, sliding into the driver’s seat. The sky above them was already twinkling with stars, and a cool breeze blew past them. Nice. 

“Let’s play strip poker!” Remus cheered as he and Logan sat in their seats. 

“We are not carrying any cards. How on Earth-?” 

“No.” Remy interrupted whatever Logan might have said next, most likely cutting off what would have become a long string of profanities if left unchecked. He turned the music on, a tad louder than usual, but Remus wasn’t going to comment on that, not when he was already having so much fun pissing off Logan. 

“You know, I can see why my brother wants to suck your dick so badly,” Remus said instead to Logan, conversationally. 

Logan almost choked on thin air, but other than that, he showed no signs of becoming riled up. Remus let his small grin slip back into place. He loved this part. Logan was  _ fun  _ to rile up. 

“I mean, he’s really got it bad for you,” Remus continued, bopping out of sync with the music. “Why, I have no idea. I mean you’re pretty, sure, but the mouth on you is simply-” 

“You know, you are far more infuriating to converse with than your brother,” Logan quickly replied, interrupting his next words. “Besides, Roman and I are simply acquaintances at best, he is... wrong about a lot of things and I simply converse with him on a regular basis to inform him of his various shortcomings.” 

“Takes two to tango,” Remus replied with a shrug and a small eye roll.  _ Jeez Logan, just admit you want to suck his dick too, that would make everything so much easier...  _ “And this can’t be a conversation if you never actually  _ answer _ me, Logie-Berry.” 

Logan leveled his gaze with Remus’ own. “Call me that again and I will sever your spinal cord.” His voice was deadly soft. 

Remus leaned in a little closer to Logan like he was telling him a secret. Logan’s eyes bored through him, but he had nothing to hide. “I’d like to see you try,” he whispered in response, a challenge. Logan was a challenge to rile up, and he was living for it. 

There was a moment of silence, during which Logan’s fists whitened only marginally against the black interior of Remy’s car. Then, Remus licked a long stripe on Logan’s nose, causing the other boy to jump back as though burned. 

Remus didn’t stop laughing, even after Logan’s face had turned completely red. 

_ “Keep it professional, guys,” _ Ellie’s voice crackled through their intercom, and Logan’s face somehow burned an even deeper red. Yeah, Logan was fun to mess with. 

As much of a challenge as Logan posed and as fun as he was, Janus was probably almost equally fun to aggravate. He was just a little pent up ball of angst and badly bleached hair, and that was just a fun combination in and of itself. Remus loved fun. 

However, these days his head drooped low, and he didn’t make eye contact unless necessary. The little spitfire seemed to be sagging under weight none of them could see. He’d lost his spark, for lack of a better explanation. Janus was reaching critical levels of mope. Someone needed to do something about that.

“You know,” Remus said casually one day, sipping from his coffee, (two sugars, three tablespoons of soy sauce) “I’m really glad the Earth is flat. It would really suck if we lived on a three dimensional circle or whatever bullshit they’re trying to feed us these days. Am I right?” 

Roman, who was already used to his antics, simply sighed softly. “Knock it off, Remus, it’s too early for your crap,” he replied. 

“Yes, do knock it off,” Logan said as well, his head buried in a book and a slightly glazed look in his eyes as he skimmed through it, distracted and only half paying attention to the conversation. If he was fully attentive he probably would have stopped Remus right there and then. 

Janus stiffened slowly in his chair, looking like he wanted to say something but keeping his mouth shut. 

“And did you guys see that Jennifer Lawrence was actually raised by meerkats?” Remus continued. “I can’t believe she managed to connect with society so quickly after they found her…” He shook his head solemnly. “Truly, that woman is an icon.” 

“I am  _ certain  _ that did not happen.” Virgil raised an eyebrow at him. 

Patton simply stifled a giggle. 

_ Almost there…  _ he thought to himself, watching the way Janus’ eyes slipped closed, as though willing himself into silence. He was so close to saying something, snapping at Remus, showing any kind of emotion.

“Seriously guys, why aren’t we talking about the benefits of major corporations more?” Remus said, pulling out his trump card. “They just do so much for us.” 

Janus’ rant seemed to spill out of him like water from a broken bucket, his face flushing as his tone quickly turned incredulous. Remus endured it as usual, grinning as life seemed to bloom in the younger boy for the first time that week.  _ Maybe he can apply some of this passion to his everyday life again,  _ Remus mused even as Janus continued to chew him out, indifferent to the fact that no one else seemed to be listening. 

Remus could see Patton share a knowing look with him, smiling as Janus’ rant on Remus’ views on society devolved into a rant on society itself, major corporations and capitalism. The younger boy didn’t even seem to mind when Logan chimed in, backing up a few of his points and refuting others, their now almost playful banter filling the kitchen with comforting noise once more. Janus even smiled once or twice. 

  
Remus mirrored that smile. He was only there to see what happened, sure, but that didn’t mean that everyone else was allowed to go around moping and acting all miserable. Not on his watch. 

_ Success. _

Patton was just as fun to rile up as Janus. However, where Logan and Janus built up energy until it all spilled out of them like water from a dam, Patton reacted immediately, usually with some kind of scandalized gasp or horrified squeak. Again: fun. 

Usually, he liked to drop these facts right after they were finished working out. He and Patton usually lifted in the gym after everyone finished up, because Patton wanted someone to spot him and Remus wanted to have some time away from his brother and the dopey face he made whenever Logan was lifting near them. At least Patton wasn’t drooling all over himself over the blue eyed object of Roman’s affection. 

“So, Pattycake,” Remus said, like he always did whenever he was about to say something absolutely devastating, “Did you know that you make between one and two liters of saliva a day?” 

Patton spit out his water. Wiping the back of his wrist on his forehead, he made a face at Remus.

“That means you could feasibly fill a bathtub with your spit in a year!” Remus continued cheerfully as the horrified expression on Patton’s face only grew. 

“Ew!” The shorter boy shook his head in distaste. “Gross!” 

“If we all pitch in, the six of us could fill a bathtub in only two months,” Remus added thoughtfully, taking a swig of his own water. “What do you think, Patty? Bonding activity? You, me, everyone else in this safehouse?” 

“Oh my gosh, no!” Patton said, squishing up his button nose. “Definitely not!” 

Remus just cocked his signature smile at him. “Maybe later.” 

Virgil was like a tiny firecracker, which was ironic seeing as he was the tallest of the bunch. He had a shorter fuse than Logan and Janus, but he went off just as loudly. He also took approximately none of Remus’ bullshit. 

Remus liked to walk into rooms with just Virgil in them and just scream. It was short, easy, and never failed to make the other boy jolt like he’d been stuck in the electric chair. 

“Will you  _ stop that?” _ Virgil had practically shrieked at him after his most recent surprise, his hair in his face and his eyes wide and unnerved. He had jumped about a foot in the air and whipped around with the speed of, well, Virgil. Not much was faster than Virgil. 

Remus just cackled. “The part I understand is how you don’t see me coming, you dork,” he managed to get out between cackles, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. Virgil was a riot to work up, almost cartoonish in his reactions. “Aren’t you supposed to have super hearing or something?” 

Virgil flushed a little. He didn’t have an answer. Remus didn’t particularly care. As long as he was able to keep surprising the other boy, he wasn’t going to look that gift horse in the mouth. 

As fun as people were to set off individually, the most fun came from antagonizing the whole group. If he could piss them all off or gross them all out at once, that was the absolute best. One of his favorite times to spice things up was during what Logan liked to call their sustained silent reading time. It was a new block on their schedule, an hour in the morning on Mondays and Thursdays where all of them had to sit down in one room and not make any noise. They didn’t particularly have to be reading during the time, despite the name, Logan really just wanted everyone to be quiet. 

Roman complained at first that Logan had forced them all into a book club, but in honesty, Patton and Logan were the only people who usually read during this time. Virgil usually liked to curl up against Patton and close his eyes, letting his head sag a bit and his features smooth out as sleep claimed him. Roman drew or listened to his music, sometimes both, and Janus sat in the corner with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. Sometimes his face shifted as he sat there, features blurring as his memories collided. 

  
“So, what do you guys call it when a guy orgasms in space?” Remus spoke into the open silence, waiting for the reaction he so desperately craved. He strived to create chaos, and he was so close now. 

Patton was the first to react, as always. He let out a tiny squeak and his entire face colored in the way it usually did whenever Remus said anything sexual. Janus didn’t say anything, but his face had stopped shifting. 

“No, Remus, quiet time,” Logan reminded him, flipping another page in his book. 

“An astro-nut!” Remus replied, ignoring the other boy. 

“Quiet time,” Logan repeated, a little more forcefully. His sock clad toes had clenched up, but other than that, he didn’t seem annoyed or tense in the slightest. 

“I’m trying to cultivate friendships here!” Remus protested with a shit eating grin. 

“I will tape your mouth shut,” Virgil replied. 

“Kinky.”

“Guys!” Patton protested. 

“Hey, you can’t spell bondage without bond!” 

“Wow, I didn’t think it was possible to hate you any more than I already do.” Virgil replied without missing a beat. 

Remus blew a kiss at him. “Love you too babe.” 

Roman groaned, rubbing his eyes. “Is it too late to gag him?” 

“Most likely,” Logan replied. 

  
Roman sighed, but Remus just grinned a little wider.  _ Yeah, there could be worse ways to spend the summer.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe that this is the chapter that makes Puppeteer officially my longest work ever. :/


	15. Virgil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My obligatory never have I ever chapter cause apparently I can't write a long Sanders Sides fic without making the boys play one of three different goofy high school games?? Anywho, enjoy chapter 2 of 3 fun, fluffy, filler chapters! :)

Virgil was having a perfectly pleasant day right up until Remus Prince burst into his room, eyes wild, chest heaving. “Virgil, come quick!” he cried, in a most un-Remus-like fashion. “It’s an emergency!” 

Virgil could feel his heartbeat pick up, his anxiety kicking into high gear in preparation as he slid out of bed as quickly as possible. “What, what is it?” he asked the other boy nervously. 

“No time! I’ll explain when we get there!” Remus called back over his shoulder, Virgil followed him wordlessly, thoughts already beginning to spiral. 

_ What happened? Did Ian find us? Did Ellie turn on us? Did something happen to Patton? _

Remus dragged him into their main living area, turning back to Virgil with a huge grin. “Okay!” he announced, sounding excited and pleased with himself and completely different from only moments earlier. 

Virgil stared into the room. Logan, Roman, Patton, and Janus all stared back at him. They were sitting criss cross applesauce on the floor in a circle, looking miffed or bored or just plain confused

“Okay?” Virgil repeated the other boy’s words cautiously, eyes narrowing at Remus. “And just what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Nothing appeared amiss, though appearances could be deceiving. 

“It means that now we’re all here we can start!” Remus replied, clapping his hands together energetically. “Sit down, sit down!” 

Virgil looked at Patton quizzically, his heart still racing. 

“Remus has coerced us into playing a game of never have I ever with him,” Logan explained with a sigh. His posture was rigid and he looked like he was about to bolt at any moment. Knowing Logan, as soon as he got the opportunity to flee the activity, he would. 

“Come on, you guys didn’t like my other bondage activity!” Remus pointed with a pout, taking his seat next to Roman. 

“What did we ever do to make you think that we wouldn’t immediately shoot down your orgy idea?” Janus replied, exasperated. 

Remus just shrugged. 

Virgil sat cautiously next to Patton. The other boy shot him one of his blinding smiles. “I hate you,” he informed Remus, who just blew him a kiss in response. 

“Alright, you all know how to play, I assume?” Roman took charge of the situation, looking very authoritative. There was a slight chorus of murmurs in response, some more energetic than others. 

“Is this activity truly required?” Logan asked him. 

“For the last time, yes.” 

“Well I don’t see why  _ I  _ must participate,” Logan pointed out, wrinkling his nose in a slightly uncharacteristic expression of emotion. “I was never forced to play this “game” as a child, and I was  _ tortured.” _

“You get to play because you’re our friend!” Patton replied cheerfully, completely circumnavigating the slightly more worrisome part of that statement. 

“Hang on, what’s all this now about torture?” Virgil cut in, but he was ignored. 

“I don’t have any friends. You are all qualified as my acquaintances, nothing more,” Logan replied to Patton. 

“Aquatiences? What about Ellie then?” Roman challenged him. 

“That’s completely different and you know it.” The look Logan sent him was scathing. 

There was a beat of silence, during which the two boys stared one another down. Virgil held his breath. 

“Well, there’s no going back now, you’re playing!” Roman finally huffed before turning back to the rest of the group. “Rules are simple. We’ll go in a counterclockwise circle. Ten fingers. Last one standing wins.” 

Logan let out another, more agitated sigh. Roman ignored him. 

“Now, I will begin the cycle. Never have I ever gotten detention!” Roman’s chest puffed out slightly as he said it. 

Virgil rolled his eyes as he put a finger down, noting Remus doing the same. “What are you, twelve?” he shot at Roman. 

“What are you, a delinquent?” Roman shot right back at him. 

“No,” Virgil gritted his teeth. He’d gotten detention once, but in his defense the guy had totally deserved the punch to the nose. “That would be your brother.” 

Remus shrugged cheerfully. “Can’t argue with that!” 

“I guess he’s  _ guilty  _ as charged,” Patton tacked on with a small grin. Virgil rolled his eyes fondly. 

“Me next!” Remus’ exclamation drowned out the rest of the groaning. “Never have I ever passed my driver’s test!” 

“You can’t drive?” Janus squinted at him as he put his finger down, along with everyone else except for Logan. 

“Oh, no, I can drive,” Remus replied. “I love driving!” 

“Not legally,” Roman explained to Janus with a small grimace. He looked at everyone else. “Don’t get into a moving vehicle with him unless you can help it. You’ll wish you didn’t.” 

“Oh please, I only hit that one mailbox, and those three other mailboxes, and our neighbor’s car, and our neighbor’s cat like, once!” Remus protested, counting the various offenses off on his remaining fingers. 

Patton made a sound like he’d been shot. Virgil winced for him, reaching out and tapping his own fingers against the other boy’s hand, which happened to be conveniently resting on the ground next to his leg. It was a rhythm they both knew well, one that they’d come accustomed to using absentmindedly. 

“You forgot the time with the groundhog,” Roman helpfully supplied. 

“Right! Why do I always forget the groundhog?” 

Patton’s fingers wiggled back underneath his own, tapping back on the floor. Virgil stifled his small, dorky grin. “Alright, enough of that,” he cut in, stopping what would inevitably devolve into a massive bickering match between the twins if given enough time. “Never have I ever… been the eldest child.” He didn’t have any good ideas, sue him. 

“Well, I’m certainly both the oldest and the only child my parents have ever adopted,” Patton replied, putting a finger down and smiling sweetly. Virgil felt his heart skip a beat. 

Remus stuck out his tongue at his brother as he put a finger down as well, grinning as Roman was once more reminded of the couple minute lead Remus had on him. Janus and Logan put their fingers down as well, despite having never met their parents.  _ I suppose that’s a fair assumption to make,  _ Virgil thought.  _ If your parents straight up ditch you and never come back, you’ve at least assumed that you’re an only child.  _

“Hey, it’s Logan’s first finger, guys!” Remus cheered excitedly. Patton grinned and clapped supportively, and Roman let out a small  _ whoop.  _

“I don’t understand, if the point of this game is to outlast everyone else, then why on Earth would you express excitement over having done these things?” Logan looked confused, his big blue eyes peering over to Roman in hopes to alleviate his confusion. Roman looked heartstruck. 

_ Cute,  _ Virgil thought sarcastically. 

After a moment of silence that was frankly a little too long, Roman cleared his throat with a small cough and grinned good naturedly at the other boy. “Well you see, Lo, the real objective isn’t to win, it’s to prove you’ve done the most cool stuff. It’s a way to brag and show off and look cool.” 

Logan’s brows furrowed, clearly thinking hard about how winning wasn’t really winning in this game. Finally, he simply shook his head. “Teenagers,” he grumbled. 

Patton went after Virgil. “Never have I ever dated a football player,” he said with a mischievous smirk on his face. 

Virgil felt heat flush his face as he groaned, putting a finger down. Remus and Roman did the same. “That was  _ one date, _ Pat, I barely even went out with him!”

Patton stuck his chin out stubbornly. “Still counts!” 

Virgil groaned. “I didn’t even like the guy, you know this.” 

Roman made a strange noise. “Then why’d you say yes?” he asked him, confused. 

Virgil looked over at the other boy. “He asked me out with a pun and I was too startled to say no,” he finally muttered. “Patton’s never let me live it down.” 

Logan shook his head. “You’d have thought that he’d have built up some sort of, for lack of a better word, immunity to puns, having been close with Patton for so many years.” 

“One would think,” Virgil agreed with him, sighing a little. “Go ahead Janus, your turn.” 

“Fantastic.” Janus sighed. “Give me a moment to think… Never have I ever shoplifted” 

Remus let out a laugh as he put his finger down. Looking around, he noticed he was the only one. This seemed to please him. “What, just me?” he asked, delighted. “Not even pretty boy over here?” he jerked his thumb at Logan. 

“I assure you, anything I have stolen has not come from a shop,” Logan replied, as Roman bristled next to him, glaring at his brother. Patton and Virgil exchanged amused looks.    
  


“Right,” Janus said. “Well that was  _ totally  _ unexpected. Never have I ever lied to my guardians about being hungover.”

Remus cracked up again, lowering his fifth finger. 

“Hey, you can’t go twice!” Roman protested. 

“Says who?” Janus shot back. 

“Says the rules!” 

“What rules?” Janus looked over at him innocently. 

“Roman, if Janus wants to go twice that’s perfectly okay by me!” Patton said cheerily. “Whatever makes him happy.” 

Roman grumbled something about the simplicity of rules and some people’s inability to follow them. Janus smirked in a very self satisfied fashion. 

“Remus, your fingers are dropping like flies,” Virgil commented, just to change the topic. 

The other boy just giggled in response. “Several times,” he confessed. “I refuse to believe that none of you dorks have done that! I mean what kind of parties did you even go to in high school?” 

“I didn’t,” Virgil offered. 

“I would never drink!” Patton sounded horrified at the mere thought. “What kind of parties did  _ you _ go to?” 

“Don’t answer that, Remus,” Roman cut in. 

“We don’t keep alcohol in the Safehouse,” Logan replied with a roll of his eyes. “Simple.” 

They all turned to look at Janus. 

“What?” he asked, looking at them funny. “I’m a beacon of truth. If I’m hungover, I tell my grandmother.” 

“Well I simply don’t know what else we expected,” Logan muttered, with a barely perceivable roll of his eyes. 

“It’s your turn, Logan!” Patton grinned at him excitedly. 

Logan looked like his fingernails were being pulled. “Very well. I have never played this game before, as you all know, however I believe that I have come to figuratively grasp the concept of how to play this game over the last few rounds.” 

They all stared at him.  _ Oh boy,  _ Virgil thought.  _ This should be good.  _

“Never have I ever failed an assessment,” Logan said. 

Everyone groaned, putting their fingers down. A sort of self satisfied smirk grew on Logan’s face, mirroring Janus’ face from mere moments earlier. 

“You’ve got to be joking, you’ve never failed anything? A test? A quiz? A competition?” Roman asked the other boy dubiously. 

“I have never failed anything over the course of my entire life,” Logan replied, just as smugly as he had said his initial statement. 

“That’s bullshit, I specifically remember a certain someone getting in trouble for not memorizing his periodic table.” 

They all turned, and Virgil rolled his eyes.  _ Great, so Ellie was here now.  _ In typical Puppeteer fashion, she was lounging against the doorframe, smirking. Her hair was long and wavy today, not tied back or braided. Virgil hated how she just seemed to pop up whenever it was convenient. 

Logan’s face flushed a deep red. “I was four! Besides,” he muttered, “that wasn’t a stereotypically graded assessment.” 

Ellie shook her head at him, tutting disappointedly. “All you could recall were the noble gasses and a couple of other odds and ends… honestly…” 

Logan muttered another thing under his breath before responding. “Not everyone has it as easy as you when it comes to that kind of stuff, _ Puppeteer.” _

Ellie just laughed at him again. “That may be true for most people, but I have it on record that you’re supposed to have a photographic memory. You have no excuse.” 

“Well you have no excuse for that burnt mass of cheese and pasta you tried to feed me the other day,” Logan shot back. Ellie only grinned wider and Logan’s mirrored her, his lips tilted upward into a smirk. 

“Wait, what?” Roman interrupted them. 

“Ellie finds herself incapable of producing mac and cheese, no matter how hard she tries,” Logan replied with a roll of his eyes. 

Ellie just quirked an eyebrow at him, amused. “If I really wanted to learn-” 

“Yes, that’s the part I don’t understand,” Logan replied. “You’ve learned four different martial arts, mastered fencing and the use of a bo staff, become proficient at infiltration and lock picking, but you still refuse to look up a youtube video about making mac and cheese?” 

“I learned how to wrestle alligators the other day,” Ellie offered in response. 

“And yet you refuse to learn this one simple task,” Logan protested. “You’ve learned so much in so little time. You could execute it _ perfectly _ if you just watched  _ one  _ video.” 

“Meh.” 

Roman shook his head in disbelief at the back and forth. “Now I know where you get your stubborn streak from, Teach.” 

“I am not stubborn,” Logan replied ironically, despite all the evidence contrary. He didn’t make eye contact with Roman. 

“Psh, yeah, sure,” Roman replied, his voice absolutely dripping with sarcasm. 

Virgil looked back at the doorway, but Ellie was already gone. He grit his teeth as Roman started the next round. 

“Never have I ever used spark notes instead of reading the assigned material.” 

_ Crap.  _ Virgil put his finger down guiltily. 

Soon after their little interruption, the game devolved into a sort of challenge. Like Roman had said earlier, everyone knew that to lose the game was to win the game. 

“Oh yeah?” Well once I took a wet sock and shoved it in Roman’s mouth when he was sleeping!” Remus’ grin was wide and unnerving. Next to him, Roman shuddered at the memory. 

“Oh, please, I went streaking with the cross country team last year,” Vigil replied confidently, like he hadn’t totally been peer pressured into it and an anxious mess the whole time. 

Remus nodded, a flicker of respect crossing his face for only a moment. “Didn’t take you for the type, Virgin. I drank a tube of paint for thirty bucks behind my elementary school playground.” 

Patton made a noise of alarm. 

“That’s nothing, I sniffed glue with my principal one time,” Janus cut in. They all stared at him. “Of course, it was a complete accident.” 

“How do you  _ accidentally sniff glue?”  _ Logan hissed out. 

“Well I stole a stop sign on a bet, and the principal called me in to talk about it when he found out,” Janus reasoned. “It all sort of escalated from there.” 

“Impressive…” Remus snickered a little bit. “I stole a statue from a church when I was fourteen!”

“I’ve broken into multiple public pools,” Janus shot back. 

“How many?’ 

“Four.” 

“Ha! Five!” 

Janus muttered something nasty under his breath.  _ Competitive,  _ Virgil thought, slightly amused. “Well I’ve stolen from multiple antique and jewelry shops.”

“I  _ distinctly  _ remember you not fessing up to shoplifting earlier in the game,” Logan said to him. “In fact, I believe that you were the one who brought that topic to the attention of the group.” 

“Did I say stolen?” Janus asked him. “I meant....  _ borrowed.  _ With intent to give back, of course.”

Patton had long since checked out of this conversation. Virgil knew that vacant look in his friend’s eyes. “C’mon,” he muttered to the other boy softly, tugging at Patton’s arm a moment before getting up. 

  
Logan’s eyes followed them as they left the room. 

“Hey, you okay?” Virgil asked Patton as soon as they were in the hallway. 

“Hmm?” Patton’s face turned up to look at him, his eyes flickering from Virgil’s eyes to his lips and then back to his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, mmh-fine.” 

Virgil could practically feel the mother-hen look settle into place on his face. “Are you sure? You don’t look it.” 

“I just…” Patton trailed off. Virgil looked at him expectantly. “It’s kinda stupid,” the blonde haired boy finally muttered. 

“No, Pat, nothing is stupid. You can tell me.” 

“Just…” Patton looked up at him hopefully. “Can I have a hug?” 

“Of course.” While unexpected, it was an easy answer. Patton could have as many hugs as he was willing to take from him. 

His confusion must have shown on his face, because Patton laughed, a tittering sound that sent butterflies fluttering through his stomach. “You know how I have the whole emotion wave thingy going on?” Patton asked him, and Virgil nodded because he did know, probably better than anyone, and he hoped every day that Patton’s emotion wave thingy couldn’t differentiate between platonic and romantic love. 

He could hear a faint exclamation from behind the door. It sounded like Roman. 

“Well,” Patton continued, biting his lip, “sometimes, people’s emotions can just be a bit… much. And your emotions always put me at ease.” Virgil knew this too. Patton had told him this too many times to count. Already knowing that fact didn’t stop his heart from swelling with so much love and affection he thought it might burst.

Virgil pulled him into a hug, and Patton buried his face in the crook of Virgil’s neck, letting out a soft hum of appreciation. 

“Can you feel people’s emotions better when you touch them?” Virgil wondered aloud, because this was a thought that had crossed his mind multiple times.

Patton let out a slightly indifferent hum. When he spoke, his voice was a little muffled, but he didn’t let go of Virgil, not that Virgil was complaining about it. “Sometimes. Only for you.”

Virgil could kiss him. 

Virgil wanted to kiss him. 

Virgil didn’t think he’d ever wanted to kiss anyone so badly in his entire  _ life. _

Patton looked up at him finally, with big, round eyes so blue they should be  _ illegal _ and a small, half smile on his face. His hair was slightly mussed and Virgil couldn’t help but brush it back, moving the soft curls from Patton’s field of vision. 

Patton practically melted into his touch and  _ that just wasn’t fair.  _ He wouldn’t be able to cope with it if Patton kept acting like  _ that.  _

He was frozen in place, but he couldn’t have chosen a better moment to be frozen in. Time seemed to slow to a still.

“Can I do something crazy?” Patton whispered into the open air, breaking whatever had kept Virgil so petrified. His voice was soft. 

His tongue felt too big for his mouth, and he cursed himself for stumbling over the response. “G-go for it.”

Patton let out a little huff, so small you might not even notice it, and then his bright red converse squeaked slightly on the floor as he went up on tiptoe and looped his arms around Virgil’s neck, pulling him into what might just have been the most intoxicating kiss in his entire life. 

Patton’s lips were soft. That was the first thing Virgil noticed. They were soft and sweet and tasted faintly of cherries. The second thing Virgil noticed was that he wasn’t kissing Patton back yet. 

He got right on that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case y'all were wondering when I'd actually deliver on all that Moxiety I had promised you.
> 
> Also apparently it's my personal headcanon now that teenage!Remus would ABSOLUTELY drink a bunch of paint (the nontoxic stuff I guess if y'all are worried about him dying or whatever) if someone offered him money. (I also wrote that into Evermore and I didn't even realize it until I was rereading and editing this chapter and was just like 'wait a second' lol)


	16. Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay someone needs to explain to me why all of you keep guessing powers for Ellie that are cooler than the ones I actually gave her? Like, maybe you guys should be the ones writing this thing, not me :)
> 
> This chapter will finally answer that question and I promise you it will be underwhelming lol

Roman was having a dilemma. This was not new, and frankly, Remus was probably sick of hearing about it. Roman was always having one dilemma or another, but the difference was that this time his dilemma was  _ really important, Remus, please! _

“That’s what you said about the last six guys, Roman,” Remus simply responded with an eye roll, barely looking up from his chocolate syrup covered broccoli. “I don’t want you to keep bothering me every time you want to get some dick.” 

“Ugh, fine,” Roman replied with a roll of his eyes, finally giving up on lamenting to Remus about his struggles with Logan. 

“Fine,” Remus agreed with him. 

There was a pause. 

“Heartless bastard.” 

“Horny piece of shit.” 

“Bye, asshole.” 

“Whatever, dipshit.” 

And so with Remus not wishing to listen to his woes, (and there were many of them) Roman turned to the next best thing: Virgil. 

“And he has eyes so deep you could swim in them but they’re just so  _ charged,  _ they’re charged, Virgil. They have this energy to them I just can’t even begin to-” Roman paused his romantic lament with a tsk of annoyance. “Are you even listening to me?” he asked the other boy, offended. 

“Hmm?” Virgil looked up from the tile on the floor he had been staring at. “Charged eyes, yeah yeah,” he mumbled. 

“If I didn’t know better,” Roman said with a scoff, “I’d say you had something else on your mind.” 

Virgil looked up, eyes wide as a realization crossed his face. “Actually-” 

“Never mind that, never mind,” Roman cut him off with a wave of his arm. “I just really need to get this off my chest and I feel like no one wants to listen to me.” 

“No one wants to listen to you because you’ve said it a million times,” Virgil blurted out, narrowing his eyes at Roman in a way that signified a challenge. 

“I... what- excuse me?” Roman’s voice was shrill. 

“You’re excused. Besides, maybe it would be a little more interesting to listen to you talking about your crush on Logan if you ever actually did anything about it,” Virgil shot back at him. “There’s only so much pining I can listen to before my brain oozes out my ears.” 

“Hey now,” Roman replied, now even more offended, “You’re one to talk! I see you staring at Patton like he hung the moon, but do you ever do anything about it? No.” 

“Well actually-” 

Roman huffed, continuing. “You’re unbelievably hypocritical, but if this is really the wake up call it took for me to finally act on my long standing feelings for Logan then so be it.” 

“Long standing? Dude you just met him a month ago,” Virgil replied, making a face. 

“But I feel I’ve known him for a lifetime,” Roman said with a dramatic sigh. 

“You’re unbelievably extra.” 

“And you’re unbelievably angsty, but you don’t see me complaining.” 

“Actually, you complain about it all the time, you literally complained about it to my face like yesterday.” 

Well, Virgil had him there. Roman let out a final huff of annoyance.

The first step in Roman’s ingenious plan to ask Logan out was to get him alone. That much was easy. He had the perfect idea. 

“Hey Specs, I was hoping to maybe get in a couple of extra reps at the gym, could you help actually make it a challenge for me?” Roman asked Logan the next day over breakfast, all casual and suave. 

Logan barely looked up from his own breakfast, toast and jam. “I can take the time out of my schedule.” 

_ Nailed it.  _

The second step in Roman’s plan wouldn’t be doable until they were alone. The hope was that they would go to the gym and make pleasant conversation while Roman was warming up and stretching. From there, he would take his shirt off for the actual weightlifting. That wasn’t strictly necessary to the plan, but he was going to do it anyway. Finally, after he’d talked Logan up and the other boy was nice and chatty, he could subtly steer the conversation in a more romantic direction. 

That was the hope, at least. 

Roman tried to look absentminded as he shrugged off his shirt, hyper aware of the way that Logan’s eyes snapped to his bare chest for a mere moment, the other boy tearing his eyes off of Roman no more than a heartbeat later. 

He picked up the nearest dumbbell off the rack and walked back over to Logan, feeling the cool touch of two fingers on his upper arm. In his hands, the dumbbell seemed to sag with weight. 

That was ridiculous, he knew it. The dumbbell had always weighed as much as it did, but that didn’t stop him from feeling like he’d gone from holding a feather to a full grown turkey. Logan let out a small, amused noise as Roman twitched at the sudden weight. 

“So, come here often?” Roman led with, cracking a small smile at him. Logan’s fingers seemed to burn on his arm. 

Logan just raised an eyebrow at him, and Roman allowed himself a moment to just stare into the other boy’s piercing blue eyes, resisting the urge to sigh softly in a lovesick fashion. 

“Alright then, fair enough,” Roman said. He began to do some curls. Since this workout was simply a ploy to get Logan alone, he hadn’t come with any specific workout planned, or he would have been far more prepared, and probably would have written himself a regiment of some sort. “So,” he continued, “What does it feel like when you, ya know?” He nodded at Logan’s fingers resting on his arm. 

“Are you referring to the use of my special abilities?” Logan inquired. 

“Yeah, that.” 

“Well,” Logan replied, stopping a moment to think. “I imagine that you would describe it as underwhelming. As you know, my cognitively based enhancement is a functional constant in my life, so I don’t feel any different when I’m putting it to use. It is simply a part of me.”

Roman nodded in agreement. “My strength is like that.” Ever present, the only time he felt weird was when he didn’t have it. 

“Precisely.” Logan gave him a small smile, and Roman could feel his heart throb. “Now as for my numbing ability, I suppose the feeling is most comparable to pins and needles at the point of contact.” 

Roman made an intreigued sound.  _ Interesting. _ “So if I do this?” he asked Logan, suddenly dropping the dumbbell and grabbing the other boy’s wrist before Logan had a chance to react. “What does that feel like?” 

Logan looked startled, but made no move to yank his wrist from the taller boy’s grasp. “It feels exactly the same as my fingers on your arm already did, Roman,” he explained patiently. “The sensation is not unpleasant, however there is a slight tingling.”

“Interesting,” Roman muttered. “All the time?”

“For you, yes,” Logan responded with a nod. “Your enhancements are constantly ‘active,’ and that means that as long as I am touching you, my own enhancements are suppressing them. It would be the same for Patton. However, for people like Virgil, Ellie, or Remus, I only feel the tingling if they are actively attempting to utilize their enhancements. The sensation is not much different from you, however.” 

“Like they’re giving you butterfly kisses!” Roman snapped his fingers and gave him a big grin. 

“I- sorry, what?” Logan squinted at him suspiciously. 

“You know, butterfly kisses?” Roman batted his eyelashes and let out an overly dramatic gasp at Logan’s blank stare. “A travesty! You don’t know what butterfly kisses are? You know everything!” 

Logan preened for a moment before focusing on the rest of Roman’s statement. “Am I supposed to know? What are they?” 

“Well, they’re kind of hard to explain…” Roman replied, completely ignoring the fact that they would be incredibly easy to explain. A lightbulb lit up in his head and he had to resist the urge to grin. “I’ll just have to show you!”

“Really, a demonstration is not nessa-” Whatever else Logan was going to stay was cut off by a very undignified squeak as Roman grabbed his hips and pulled him closer, leaning down slightly to tickle the other boy’s cheek lightly with his eyelashes. 

When Roman released him, his face had turned bright red and he was stuttering slightly. Roman could feel a bit of him curl and uncurl with pride at that, and he gave Logan a cheeky grin. 

Logan touched his cheek gently, still glaring at Roman. “That was not a necessary demonstration.” 

“Oh shut up Nerd, you loved it,” Roman replied with a smirk, not missing the way that Logan’s cheeks flushed an even deeper pink at those words. 

“Is consent not an issue for you?” Logan asked him sharply, looking quite flustered. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I assumed that consent was thrown out the window when you literally kidnapped my brother and I,” Roman replied without missing a beat. 

“First of all, it’s ‘me and my brother,’ and second of all, that was a completely different situation and you know it!” Logan snarled back at him, his eyes sparkling like they always seemed to when the two of them started an argument. 

“Oh,” Roman replied, “Thank you.” There was a pause, and then he retaliated, “But that’s no excuse! You kidnapped me from my home, I think you can stomach a couple of butterfly kisses!” 

“Oh I didn’t realize that you would have preferred to have been taken to be used as a terrorist against the American public!” Logan shot back. “Next time, when Ellie and I are saving people from further experimentation and being forced into a life that they wouldn’t want to be a part of, we’ll be sure to leave you and Remus off the list!” 

“That’s a low blow, of course I’m glad I wasn’t taken back to Ellie’s weird dad,” Roman protested. “I’m just saying that consent doesn’t seem like much of an issue to you guys!”

Logan rolled his eyes. “Of course it’s an issue!” 

“Fine,” Roman replied. “Well next time I want to swoop in and give you butterfly kisses, I’ll warn you first.” 

“There won’t be a next time,” Logan replied. 

“That’s what you think,” Roman countered, his mouth moving faster than his brain. 

That made the other boy pause. “Is that a threat?” Logan asked him, looking a little confused. 

“No, it’s a promise,” Roman replied cockily, “And one I intend to follow through on.” 

Logan made a face. Roman thought he looked quite cute with his nose all scrunched up like that, but then again, Roman thought he looked cute no matter what, so maybe he was a bit of a biased judge. Sue him. 

If he weren’t so frozen in the moment he might have even told him how cute he looked. 

Instead, Roman sat next to Virgil later that day with his head in his hands, lamenting. Virgil patted his back awkwardly for the fourth or fifth time and mentally wondered why Roman had declared him the person to go to with romantic struggles. 

“I said I would ask him and I just  _ couldn’t!”  _ Roman cried, throwing his head back as he dramatically cast one arm over his forehead. “What fool am I, to believe that this would be a simple endeavor?” 

“You know,” Virgil said conversationally, “You’re not the only one going through some stuff right now. I can relate because the other day-” 

“Virgil, please.” Roman bit his lip, now hopelessly lost in thought. “I’m devising a new plan that will certainly bring forth the desired effect of allowing me to profess my undying love, I need to focus.” 

“Right,” Virgil responded, pursing his lips. “Great. Stellar. I’m sure that it’ll go off without a hitch.” You could practically taste the sarcasm. 

Plan two looked exactly like plan one, with some minor modifications. Those modifications involved a footnote that said to avoid any topics of conversation that could possibly lead to an argument. 

“Oh, Logan!” Roman sing sang as he strolled down the Safehouse’s hallway, busting into the other boy’s room unceremoniously. He halted in the doorway. Plan two had already begun to crumble and he hadn’t even started to put it in motion yet. 

Logan’s room was unlike any of the other rooms in the Safehouse. It had clearly initially been set up like the other five ‘guest’ rooms, but had been altered over time. 

Logan’s bed was lofted, and in the back corner of the room, headboard in the corner. His sheets were a dark blue, and there was a small stuffed strawberry propped against his pillow. The bed was made perfectly, not a single crease to be found in his sheets. There was a desk too, underneath the bed. It was imaculately neat, and a computer sat in the very center. 

The starkest difference was the table and chairs set up in the middle of the room, the chairs that Logan and Virgil were sitting in right now. A chess board was set up between them, and even as Roman stared at them, Virgil moved one of the black pawns casually forward. Neither of the two of them looked up from their game. 

“Hello Roman,” Logan said, his eyes scanning the board methodically. 

“Hey,” Roman responded lamely, his dramatic enterence ruined by whatever was happening here. 

“Was there something that you needed?” Logan asked him, now moving one of his own pieces. 

“I can come back if now is a bad time.” 

Logan shook his head. “We’re just about done here. Check.” 

Virgil groaned. “I’ll call it now to spare myself the embarassment, but I  _ will  _ beat you one day.” 

Logan grinned, his smile doing things to Roman’s stomach that were just unfair. “I will hold you to it.” 

As Virgil stood up, he shot Roman a pointed look. Roman stuck his tongue out at the other boy, and then Virgil was out the door and out of sight. 

“Please, sit,” Logan offered, already moving all of the chess pieces back to their starting lineup. 

Roman sat. 

“Do you play?” Logan asked him, offhand. 

Roman shrugged and scrunched his nose. “Occasionally. Remus doesn’t exactly have the attention span.” 

“Would you like to play a game with me?” 

“Sure.” 

“Do you have any color preference?” Logan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

This was beginning to feel a bit like an interrogation.  _ Dark, like your hair.  _

“Did Virgil?” he responded tactfully, instead of whatever mushy goop his brain was feeding him.

“He prefers the dark pieces.” 

Roman nodded. “That’ll do.” 

They played in silence to begin, Logan moving his pieces with confident precision, Roman moving his own with reckless abandon and a fair doseage of hope. Roman knew a game against Logan was a doomed endevor from the start, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying what little time he had him for. 

“Check.” 

Roman blinked down at the pieces.  _ So soon?  _ Indeed, Logan’s biship was on a direct collision course with his own king. He moved one of his own pawns into the line of fire, frowning a little bit. Sacrifices were never good, but sometimes they were nessacary.

Logan smiled at him as he moved another of his own pieces in counter to his move, and it took Roman a whole six seconds to realize that his king was in danger again. 

Logan’s voice was sugar sweet. “Check.” 

“Does anyone ever win when they play with you?” Roman wondered aloud, throwing away a knight. 

“It’s funny that you ask that,” Logan replied. 

Roman waited, but he didn’t say any more on the subject. 

“And checkmate.” 

Roman stared at the board. His jaw had dropped. 

“Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies,” Logan advised, not even bothering to hide his pleased expression. He began resetting the board with quick, deft motions. Roman watched him, entranced. 

Logan’s room smelled like nutmeg. 

“You try the white pieces this time,” The shorter boy offered, looking up at Roman with somehing akin to a smirk on his face. He slowly spun the board around so as not to disrupt any of the pieces. 

Roman moved the pawn in front of his king. 

For a while, there were only soft clicks as Roman and Logan moved the different pieces across the board. It wasn’t a bad silence, but Roman felt a little bit like he was breathing too loudly. Logan broke that silence. 

“Ellie.” 

“Pardon?” Roman looked up and over his shoulder, half expecting to see the mask clad woman looming in Logan’s doorway, like she usually did. 

“Ellie can beat me at chess,” Logan replied. He sounded a little bitter about it. 

Roman looked at him in shock, moving a rook up to take one of Logan’s pawns. “How is that even possible?” he asked him. 

Logan moved his knight, taking Roman’s rook and making the other boy wince a little. “She posesses the skillset nessacary.” 

“You know, you keep saying that, and none of us actually know what that skillset is,” Roman replied with a small frown. 

Logan looked up at him. “If you wanted answers, you needed only to inquire,” he responded, only slightly cryptically. 

“Then this is me asking for answers. I’ve heard that she knows martial arts, fencing, lockpicking, cakemaking, sewing closed bullet wounds, and about a million other things. What the hell does she actually do?” Roman huffed. 

A small smirk played at the corners of Logan’s lips. “Anything you can do, she can do better.” 

“Come again?” 

Logan cocked his head and thought it over for a moment. “Ellie’s enhancement is similar to mine in that it is completely mental. Over the years, the two of us have come to refer to it as mimicing. She only needs to see something done once to perfectly reproduce that same result.”

Roman thought back to a couple of days ago. 

_ “Yes, that’s the part I don’t understand,” Logan replied to Ellie, letting out a little huff. “You’ve mastered four different martial arts, not to mention fencing and the use of a bo staff, become proficient at infiltration and lock picking, but you still refuse to look up a youtube video about making mac and cheese?”  _

_ “I learned how to werstle alligators the other day,” Ellie offered in response. _

_ “And yet you refuse to learn this one simple task,” Logan protested. “You’ve learned so much in so little time. You could execute it perfectly if you just watched one video!”  _

_ “Meh.” _

Roman giggled a little. “Why doesn’t she want to learn how to make mac and cheese?” he asked Logan. 

Clearly, that was not the answer the other boy was expecting. Logan let out a kind of half laugh before responding. “Honestly, that answer is one of the few things that evades me. I believe a fair portion of it comes down to spite at this point.” 

Roman thought it over. “Yeah, that sounds like Ellie,” he agreed. “So she learned to beat you through playing you?” 

Logan nodded. “It was horribly infuriating the first time it happened. I was nine.” He moved a piece. “Check.” 

Roman huffed in annoyance as his losing became more prominent. He’d been losing pieces all game, but that hadn’t seemed to matter up until that moment. Logan had him outnumbered three to one. He sacrificed a piece. “Sorry to hear it,” he replied. 

Logan just smirked wider, moving another piece into place, and looking up at Roman again, his big blue eyes locking onto Roman’s chocolate ones. “It is not as big of a deal as you think. Sometimes it’s nice to have a challenge. Check. Your choice, Prince.” 

Roman looked down at the board, frowning. Logan’s queen was on a direct collision course with his own king, and all of his other pieces were either incapacitated or too far away to help. Well, all except one. 

Sighing heavily, Roman moved his own queen between the two pieces, making the hard sacrifice.  _ Crap.  _ He knew that it was a no brainer move, one he shouldn’t have thought twice about, but losing a queen was like losing a safety blanket. He felt naked and helpless as Logan swooped in and took his queen off of the board. 

“You know, you’re not half bad at chess,” Logan said to him about three moves later, after having called checkmate. 

“Thanks, I guess,” Roman replied. “I didn’t want to make too big of a fool out of myself.” 

“Well rest assured, you were successful in at least that much,” Logan replied, voice silky smooth. He was already moving to reset his own chess pieces, his fingers deftly skipping around what remained of Roman’s once-army of marble. 

Roman smiled at him. 

It was a real shocker that plan two hadn’t worked, because everything was perfectly set up, the dominoes primed to fall, and Roman had still done nothing. He’d just sat there and he’d smiled at Logan like he was his world and he did absolutely  _ nothing.  _

He lost more sleep over it than he would like to admit.

Still grumbling the next morning, Roman went to the gym, intent on running until his brain fogged up and his thoughts were drowned out. He pulled off his shirt, put in his headphones, and started running. 

He made it through eight laps before he realized he was being watched.

Logan sat by the doorway, cross legged and writing in a navy blue journal. Every now and then, the other boy would glance up from his work to watch Roman for a few seconds before he ducked his head down again. 

As Roman finished the end of his ninth lap, he slowed to a stop in front of Logan. “Hey there, Specs,” he managed to get out, his breathing a little more laboured than he would have liked. “What’s up?” 

Logan looked up at him and bit his bottom lip thoughtfully. “I was hoping to run an experiment, and if you were so inclined to assist me, it would be much appreciated,” he finally said. 

“Me? You want me to help?” Roman asked him, sounding a little more nakedly excited than he would have hoped.  _ I’ll do anything.  _

“Of course I want you to help,” Logan replied, like it was obvious. Roman’s heart soared. Then, Logan took a moment to consider it. “Well, I suppose I could also ask Patton to assist me.” Roman’s heart plummeted. 

“Oh. Well, I’d love to help out,” Roman replied, sounding a little less excited than he had been a moment ago. 

“Of course, Patton would have been an acceptable substitute, but I would much prefer to work with you,” Logan finished mulling everything over, before realizing that Roman had already agreed. “You will assist me? Fantastic.” 

Roman wiped some sweat off of his forehead absentmindedly, his heart beginning to soar again.  _ Careful, Icarus,  _ he warned himself. “So what are we doing?” he asked Logan, intreigued. It wasn’t like the other boy never sought him out, but this was the first time Logan had sought him out with an experiment in mind. Usually they just spoke and argued and fought. 

“Your words yesterday got me thinking about my particular skillset, as well as how it applies to touch,” Logan replied. “You brought up the point of butterfly kisses, and it did occur to me that I do feel slight differences in sensation while my enhancements are in use. Since I assumed that you were as curious as I was concerning this matter, having posed the original question, it was assumed that you would be just as invested in my quest for knowledge.” 

“Thanks for including me,” Roman replied, having zoned out halfway though Logan’s light monologue and now scrambling to figure out what the other boy had just said to him. It wasn’t his fault that Logan’s sillouette framed in golden light was so distracting. “When do we start?” 

“As soon as you would want to begin, I am ready,” Logan replied, before looking him up and down and wrinkling his nose. “Though I would appreciate it if you were to shower before we begin.” 

Roman stifled a small, awkward laugh. “I can make that happen,” he agreed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've massively deviated from my previous plan and you guys are gonna get another chapter before the heavy plot kicks back in! It'll probably be from Roman's perspective again, since I just couldn't fit everything into this one and I didn't want you guys to wait too long. So yeah! I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (Also, completely unrelated, but I've been composing a Spotify playlist for Puppeteer and Empire by Beth Crowley is such an Ellie song T-T)


	17. Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all this is like 50% cutesy fluffy scene I desperately wanted to write and 50% me explotiting a stupid technicality of the way that Logan and Roman's powers work and Remus being a dick so enjoy I guess

Thirty minutes later and freshly showered, Roman met Logan in their commons area. He would be lying if he told you that he hadn’t spent a bit of extra time sprucing himself up and making himself pretty just for Logan. 

“Right,” Roman said, clapping his hands together once. “What’s the sitch?” 

Logan flushed a little. “I will be the first to admit that this experiment was not fully thought out,” he started.

“I don’t think anything out before I do it,” Roman said in response, and that was that. 

They tried all of the basic combinations first, Logan wanted to double check what it felt like when he was simply touching Roman’s arm, compared to holding his wrist or hand. From there Roman would try to lift things and Logan would report the changes (if any) that he felt depending on whether Roman’s powers were passive or active. 

“I believe that when you attempt to utilize your enhancements, it becomes less of a physical sensation and more of a mental strain,” he reported after the third or fourth run through (no experiment was complete without multiple run throughs to confirm data, of course!). He seemed fascinated with that assessment. 

Logan was adorable when his eyes were filled with wonder. “On a scale from butterfly kisses to headaches, what do you feel?” Roman asked him, actually a little curious. He realized that he’d been staring at the way the fingers on Logan’s right hand tapped while he wrote. 

Logan was taking notes, and he explained while he wrote. “When I am simply making contact with your skin, the sensation is akin to butterfly kisses. However, when you actively attempt to utilize your enhanced skill set and lift a heavy object, the sensation turns to more of a pressure right between my eyebrows. That is an intriguing differentiation.” 

“Interesting.” Roman fixed his gaze instead on the curve of Logan’s neck and the way that his Adam’s apple flexed when he swallowed. His skin looked like marble, cool and pristine. 

“Indeed.” Logan looked at his perfectly pristine notes over once, nodding a little bit. He started to close the notebook, as the experiment seemed to be coming to a close. 

Roman glanced at the clock quickly, noting that it had been only fifteen minutes, twenty at most. He had hoped for more time with Logan, but how would he get him to stay? An idea began spinning its way into his head, weaving through the cracks in his thoughts and ignoring the part of his brain that told him to do anything but vocalize it. 

“Does it feel different in different areas?” He blurted out, just as Logan seemed to be getting ready to make his leave. Absentmindedly, he winced at his own phrasing, glad that Remus was not there.

Logan paused, looking intrigued. “Rephrase your question?” 

“Well, every time you’ve grabbed me it was with your fingers or your hand,” Roman said, realizing just how stupid he sounded. “What if it feels different if you used, say, your elbow? How would you know?” 

“Are you telling me that I should walk over to you and touch my elbow to your arm while you attempt to lift a heavy object, and then record whether or not it feels any different from when I was simply holding your wrist?” Logan asked him. 

“You can make a hypothesis if it makes you feel any better,” Roman offered, shaking the statement tantalizingly like a cookie in front of Logan’s nose.

“Very well.” Logan jotted something down in his book. “Let us commence with further experimentation then, if I’m not keeping you?” 

“Of course not, I’ve got nowhere to be,” Roman replied with a smile. 

Unsurprisingly, Logan’s elbow functioned no differently from his fingers. Neither did his kneecap, or his ankle, or his upper arm. 

“It was exactly as I had hypothesized,” Logan informed him, after one very awkward shuffle and one very strange moment where Logan assessed something that he seemed to feel and Roman tried not to breathe too loudly. 

“Ah,” Roman replied, not even bothering to mask his disappointment this time. “Well I’m glad you got a complete set of data.” 

“Well,” Logan hesitated. “We are not aware of any possible differences… elsewhere?”

Roman raised an eyebrow at him, curious. 

Logan took another step in his direction, looking up into Roman’s eyes hesitantly. His gaze flicked to Roman’s lips and then back up to his eyes, his gaze quizzical. 

_ Ah.  _ Roman’s heart skipped a beat. 

“Well, if it’s for science,” he breathed out in rushed agreement, “It would be...  _ wrong _ not to collect  _ all _ of the data.” 

“Then we are both in agreement?” Logan asked him softly, and Roman could have gotten lost in those sapphire eyes if he wasn’t already hyper aware of every movement he was making right now. 

“Who am I to deny science?” Roman asked the other boy as his answer, which earned him a small chuckle.  _ Please.  _

There was a beat of silence between them, where Logan took the time to give him one more questioning look, and Roman took the time to nod, so tiny it was barely perceptible. And then Logan went up on his tiptoes and carefully pressed their lips together. 

It was short and sweet, and Roman could feel his brain short circuit even as he stood there. Logan’s arms had come to wrap awkwardly around his shoulders, and the other boy seemed a little unsure of how to stand, but Roman just pulled him a little closer and basked in the closeness and the fact that it was so completely, authentically  _ Logan.  _

You could have shot him in that moment and he wouldn’t have cared. 

Logan pulled away from him first, with a soft gasp. The usually stoic boy’s cheeks were dusted red, but the smile that played at the corners of his lips was grounding. 

“So?” Roman asked him quietly, still not letting go, head still spinning. “Did you get your data?” 

Logan cocked his head to the side. “Mmh, I’m not sure if I got an accurate reading,” he replied, “Allow me to check again.” 

Roman’a chest constricted again as he made a noise between disbelief and adoration, and then Logan’s lips were on his again and he was just  _ lost.  _

Now that he had a bit more of his usual confidence back, Logan was kissing him with almost reckless abandon, more daring and more outright pushy than he’d been only moments prior. This was nothing like their first kiss, and it was no less satisfying. 

This was dangerous. This was intoxicating. This was everything he had hoped for and more. 

Roman had to be the one to pull back this time, cheeks a little flushed and breathing stuttering slightly, and he grinned down at Logan in a flaky mimic of his usual cocky smile. His lips felt almost bruised, they were tingly and numb and he felt like he’d been floating. 

_ I’d imagine that this is what it’s like to do hard drugs,  _ he decided. He’d have to ask Remus. 

Logan looked incredibly self satisfied, and he ran his fingers through his hair before straightening up, his eyes a whirlpool of emotions. Roman had never wanted to drown so badly before. 

He realized that nothing was stopping him from kissing Logan again, and wiping that self satisfied smile right off of his face.

Later that day, Roman’s heart was still aflutter, but that didn’t stop him from making a beeline for Virgil the moment he saw him, to gloat. 

“I’ve done it!” Roman cried, throwing his arms up dramatically to the other boy. 

Virgil, who was sitting on a dark blue bean bag next to the couch, looked Roman up and down, eyes sliding to his neck. His eyebrows quirked in amusement. “You certainly have, Princey,” he remarked, closing his book. “Lemme ask, is there anything you  _ didn’t  _ do with him?” 

“I- what?” Roman faltered, confused. 

Virgil, stifling laughter, motioned towards Roman’s neck. “You might wanna take a look in the mirror, Roman.” 

Roman quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it to selfie mode, scrutinizing his neck worriedly. He didn’t have to scrutinize very long before he found it, letting out a little mortified shriek and collapsing to the floor. 

That was what did it for Virgil, the emo boy let out a cackling laugh that had him in stitches, holding his sides as his shoulders heaved with the hilarity of the situation. 

“I have a love bite!” Roman cried, his face burning redder than his shirt as he remembered Logan’s lips trailing from his mouth slightly. He hadn’t even thought twice about it. He hadn’t even thought that was a possibility.  _ All we did was make out oh my gosh when did this happen how did I not notice it? _

That just made Virgil wheeze more, his laughter bouncing off the walls and summoning unwelcome faces. 

“What’s going on in here? Who sanctioned a tickle fest and didn’t invite me?” Remus poked his head through the open doorway. 

Roman let out another, even less dignified shriek and collapsed once more to the floor.  _ Oh God it’s Remus please no anyone but Remus, he’ll never let me live this down please no.  _

“Oh it’s just you losers,” Remus commented, looking to Virgil. “What about my brother’s pain delights you today, Virgin?” 

Virgil managed to stop his wheezy laughing to shoot a glare in Remus’ direction. “I don’t like you.” 

“I assure you the feeling is not mutual.” Remus turned his attention to Roman then, who was trying his best to blend in with the sea colored carpet. So far he was not succeeding. “And what is your problem, dearest brother of mine?” 

Roman’s response was muffled. “Go fuck yourself.” 

“Well that’s not a very nice way to treat your caring sibling, is it?” Remus squatted down next to him, a big grin on his face. “What ails you, oh thorn in my side?” 

“Nothing! Go away!” 

Virgil let out another small giggle from where he lay on the beanbag. “He has a hickey,” the tall boy informed Remus with the sort of delight usually only reserved for ruining someone’s life and getting to watch it happen. 

“But Roman can’t get-”

Roman let out another, even more mortified screech. “I didn’t think I could either!” 

You could pinpoint the moment where Remus’ brain connected two and two. His entire face lit up like a little kid’s on Christmas day and his mustache twitched slightly as a large smile began to cover the lower half of his face. “You and pocket protector, huh?”

“Noooo,” Roman just groaned, knowing what was coming. 

“Wait a minute,” Remus said, in a very serious tone that didn’t at all match the wild grin on his face, rooting around in his back pocket, “I know I have one on me…” 

“Please don’t.” 

“Don’t what?” Virgil asked, curiosity spiked. 

“Aha!” Remsu pulled a little trifold pamphlet out of his back pocket, placing it in front of Roman’s nose with a very dignified look on his face. “Now you kids be sure to practice safe and responsible-” 

“We didn’t even do anything Remus, shut up!” Roman resisted the urge to smack his brother or maybe the pamphlet across the room. Anything to make him shut up. “Where do you keep getting these anyway?” he asked desperately. He must have ripped up six or seven of them by now. 

Virgil had to stifle further laughter as he picked up the pamphlet, flipping through it with absentminded interest. “Dude, this looks like something that would come from a high school health class, where  _ did  _ you get this?” 

Remus just cackled, his laughter mingling in with Virgil’s. Roman did his best to stand up with a dignified look on his face, not meeting either of their eyes. “I hate everyone in this room,” he announced, beginning to walk away from them stiffly. 

“Love you too, bro!” Remus calls back at him, and then his brother and Virgil both are bursting into laughter again, their cackling mixing as they enjoyed the blissful effect of schadenfreude. 

_ At least they’re bonding.  _

Roman would have preferred to have hidden in his room all day and sulked, but of course today was the day that Ellie would call them into the commons for another team meeting. Obviously. 

He dragged his feet on his way to the commons, trailing his fingers against the scratchy old wallpaper and taking a moment to straighten the darkening roses in the vase at the end of the hall.  _ This place looks kind of like a hotel,  _ he thought, walking into the commons area. 

Everyone turned to look at him. Ellie and Logan were standing up front as per usual, and everyone else was clustered across from them on the various soft surfaces. Patton and Virgil had taken the couch, Janus was sitting on the loveseat adjacent to said couch, and Remus was lounging in the beanbag to the left of the couch. 

_ Oh goodie, I’m the last one here.  _

He went to sit next to Patton, smiling awkwardly at him. “Sorry I’m late,” he muttered softly. 

Ellie’s eyes lingered on his throat for only a moment, and then she turned her head and gave Logan a very pointed, unimpressed look. Logan raised his head a little higher and looked her dead in the eyes as the two of them had some conversation Roman wasn’t privy to. 

The two of them were about the same height, so neither of them looked as intimidating as they probably thought they did. 

“You’re the worst,” Logan finally announced, breaking the silence. 

“Just doing my job, Berry,” she replied with a grin. “Alright, now, onto the important matter I  _ actually  _ summoned you all here to discuss.” 

Janus made a face, Patton shuffled expectantly on the couch, and Virgil slowly threaded his fingers through the other boy’s in anticipation. 

“I’m going to be leaving you for a couple of days,” Ellie said, and Logan made a face like he was swallowing a lemon. 

“You’re what?” Janus asked her, narrowing his eyes. 

“Do you need me to repeat myself?” Ellie asked him. “I will be going on a trip in two days, it can’t be avoided.” Her eyes seemed to stare into Janus, piercing and unflinching. He met her stare with a challenging gaze of his own. 

“So you kidnap us, but you don’t have the decency to actually stick around once you’ve actually done it?” Janus replied, disbelieving. 

“Aww, careful Janus, someone might think you were actually getting a bit attached to me,” Ellie said in response, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips. “No but seriously, it’s like you didn’t even hear the part where I said it couldn’t be avoided. It’ll only be for a few days and then I’ll be back. Until then, Logan is in charge.” 

“Yippie,” Janus said in monotone at the same time that Patton went, “Yippie!” and clapped his hands together in excitement. 

“This is me trusting you guys,” Ellie said. “Don’t wreck the house while I’m gone. No wild parties.” 

Remus stifled a small snort. 

Roman just locked eyes with Logan and gave the other boy a small, slightly embarrassed smile. He’d never wanted so badly to know what kind of mental conversation the other boy had just had with Ellie. Across from him, Logan’s cheeks flushed a bright red and he ran his fingers through his hair self consciously. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright who missed the plot? Anyone? Me neither lol. It comes back next chapter.
> 
> (You all have been such amazing and simply wonderful readers and I'd just like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart and that you are all awesome <3)


	18. Janus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you guys ready for Plot: The Chapter ft. Remus and Janus being bros

She had left them alone. For the first time in almost two months, she had actually left them alone. Two weeks prior, Janus might have whooped for joy at this. Now? He just felt a sense of unease run through him. 

Ellie had packed up and departed that morning, with one final kiss on the top of Logan’s head (much to his distaste) and one last well wish to the rest of the group (no kisses for them). She had walked up the stairs and then she was gone. Janus didn’t know why this didn’t fill him with as much joy as he had initially thought it would. 

_ He could escape now, _ his brain reminded him helpfully,  _ there was nothing stopping him from escaping.  _

He didn’t know why he couldn’t just do it. So he made excuses instead. Why would he try to escape during waking hours, when all the others would be up and around and moving? Too many variables. He was so tired by the time nightfall hit, there was no point trying to get up and stealthily sneak around when he was so drowsy, he would just mess it up and be discovered. There really wasn’t even a point at trying again the next day, he reasoned, seeing as Logan was still in charge and could still take him out with little more effort than it took the bespectacled man to breathe. 

The first day, he rebelled in smaller, more contained ways. He made himself an espresso, and then a few more, in direct violation of Ellie’s two cups per person rule. He stole Roman away from snogging Logan to spar with the other boy, and lost dramatically. He perched a bucket of rocks atop his door in preparation for Remus bursting in on him, and cackled loudly when the bucket tumbled down onto the unsuspecting other boy. He slipped salt in Virgil’s coffee, pretending to be Patton and only dropping the disguise when Patton himself walked in on them. 

He did something he hadn’t done in a while. He had fun. 

And that night, he slept soundly. First, he walked past the ginormous blanket fort Patton, Remus, and Roman had built in the living room, and sidestepped Virgil, who was carrying more marshmallows than should be consumed in one sitting, even if you had help. 

He smirked. It looked like they were all rebelling, in their own little ways. 

He awoke the next morning to Remus’ hair in his face and the taste of squishy sugar mixed with morning breath in his mouth. “What the-!” Janus tried to say, but it came out garbled.

Remus jumped back from him nimbly as he shot upright in bed, giggling. His eyes twinkled with delight as he watched the other boy spit out the marshmallows. 

“Remus, what the hell?” Janus glared at him. “Who gave you sugar?” 

“I got bored,” Remus pouted. “Logan and Roman are too busy sucking face to do anything with me and no one else here except you likes me!” 

“Surely that can’t be true,” Janus replied dryly, making a face at Remus’ comment.  _ Ew.  _

“Alas, it is!” Remus cast an arm over his face dramatically, and Janus was hit with just how much the other boy looked like Roman in that moment. The resemblance was quite striking. “Who will save me from my boredom?” 

Janus sighed, but an idea was already forming in his mind, an idea that Ellie would be absolutely  _ furious  _ about if she ever found out. He turned to Remus, a smile already plastered on his face. “Remus, how would you like to go outside?”

From the look of the mirrored smile on the other boy’s face, Remus would like that very much.

The two of them wasted little to no time whatsoever, and Janus quickly pushed any uneasy thoughts out of his head and replaced them with ones of freedom. Slipping his phone into his back pocket, he opened the door for Remus and followed him up the steps and into the library. 

It was almost comically easy. The doors were already unlocked, and the two of them pushed through them, feeling sunlight on their faces for the first time in months. 

Janus couldn’t help a small gasp as his eyes adjusted, and Remus let out a shriek of delight, throwing himself into the grass and rolling around. 

“Stop it you idiot!” Janus glanced over at him. “You’re going to get covered in grass stains.” 

“Worth it!” Remus declared, sticking out his tongue and springing to his feet with that same boundless energy he always seemed to possess. “So where to first?” His tone was chipper, and his eyes shone in the bright light.

Janus took a moment to look around them. There was a small yard around the library, though the grass was overgrown and there were weeds springing up between the cracks in the path. From there, there was the edge of a city block. Sidewalks ran parallel on both sides of the road, and the surrounding buildings looked to be in less of a state of disrepair than the one they had just emerged from. 

“Left?” he offered at random, choosing a direction. 

“Works for me!” Remus was like a newborn puppy, running ahead and then back to Janus and then ahead again, pulling up dandelions and blowing them in his face, and doing cartwheels and handstands along the sidewalk. On more than one occasion, Janus found himself yanking Remus away from street lamps only moments before collision. He rolled his eyes, though the action was fond.

There was civilization there, and Janus noted the fabled Dunkin Doughnuts that Ellie had mentioned before. The town was actually kind of cute, all the little shops set up in a row and with people bustling all around them now that there were things to do and places to go. 

“I want pizza!” Remus declared with a big grin. Janus noted the small, most likely home owned pizza joint that had caught his friend’s attention. It was slightly squat and made from brick, with big glass windows and a red overhang. There was a long line of people waiting to enter the store, and the faint smell of pizza seemed to fill the air around them as they stood there.

“Well I want coffee,” Janus shot back at him, nodding at the place across the street, named  _ Roxanne’s. _ It was equally small, with a quaint, homey feel to it. Attractive looking pastries sat in the windows, and even as they watched, a smiling couple stepped inside, giggling. There were a bunch of metal tables and chairs out in the sunlight nearby, but a surprising number of them were open. 

“Ooh, I want a warm croissant too!” Remus exclaimed, looking even more excited. “And a hot chocolate! And pizza!” 

“It’s summer,” Janus pointed out. 

Remus stared him dead in the eyes. “Is that an issue?” 

“Alright, you know what? How about you go wait in that line to get us pizza, I’ll get us our drinks, and we’ll regroup back here at a table. Sound good?” Janus offered. Was he using that as an excuse to get rid of Remus for a little bit? Sure. Was it also incredibly efficient to split up to get the food? Also sure. Did Remus even have money to pay for pizza? Not his problem. 

Janus thanked whatever might be watching over them, if anything, that he had his wallet on him on the day he was ‘forcibly relocated’. The bell above his head chimed cheerily once as he entered the cafe, and then he was hit with the scent of fresh baked cookies and pastries. 

Remus could do what he wanted, but there was no way in hell Janus was getting anything other than an iced coffee. It was too damn hot outside. 

The drinks were ready in no more than five minutes, and Janus sent the barista a charming smile even as she mispronounced his name, grabbing the drinks and Remus’ croissant and heading out the door with another cheery jingle. 

Remus probably hadn’t even managed to order their pizza yet, but there wasn’t anything he could do at this point except for wait. Sliding into one of the wrought iron chairs, Janus took his phone out of his pocket and opened Scrabble. He and his grandmother always had at least one game going at any given time, and his last one had made him lose by default when he hadn’t managed to play his turn in time on account of being kidnapped. He’d lost his winning streak when he forfeited the game and he was more than a little salty about it. 

Someone slid into the chair across from him. 

“Ah, you’re back earlier than expected-” Remus’ name died on his tongue as Janus took in the person in front of him. 

She was short, with brown hair and wildly electric blue eyes. She also looked skinnier than even Remus, and her thin lips and wide, toothy smile were almost reminiscent of Remus’ grin, if he had thinner lips and no dimples. She wore a teal tank top and cargo pants, but carried no purse that Janus could see. 

He squinted at her. “You’re not my friend.” 

Her already wide smile stretched even wider. “You’re absolutely right, Janus, I’m not.” 

A chill ran through him as she said his name, the syllables falling through her cherry colored lips. Very slowly, he tensed his muscles and pointed his feet away from the table. “I must have not had the pleasure of making your acquaintance yet, Miss…” he trailed off, waiting expectantly. 

“You can call me Lila,” the woman offered. 

“Well then, Lila, I guess the million dollar question here is how do you know who I am?” Janus asked her, watching her through narrowed eyes. She lounged in the chair across from him, and even as he watched her, she reached out and took a sip from his drink. 

“Oh, that’s easy,” she replied. Her voice was like silk.  _ “Everyone _ knows who you are, little mimic. You and your friends are one in a billion, literally.” She chuckled. 

“I see,” he responded, leaning forward a little bit. “And who would be considered everyone, in this scenario?” 

The woman, Lila, looked almost startled. “Did she really tell you  _ nothing?”  _ she asked him, sounding disbelieving. “I mean, I know that she did kidnap you, but did she really keep you guys in the dark about everything?” 

Janus pursed his lips as an irrational burst of anger flooded his body. “We were given snippets,” he offered curtly. 

“Well allow me to explain to you who I am, and who everyone who is anyone is,” Lila told him, tutting in a coddling manner. “You poor babies, I can’t believe Elizabeth…” 

It took Janus’ brain a moment to catch up to the fact that that was probably Ellie’s full name. 

“I work for the father of the woman who kidnapped you,” Lila started. 

_ Shit.  _ His blood ran cold. 

“Now I know she probably filled your pretty little heads with tales of woe and despair, but hear me out before you disregard what I’m saying. He’s not as bad as she made him out to be. She’s a madwoman, she’s been trying to kill  _ her own father _ for years now, not to mention  _ us.”  _ Lila frowned, snarling the next words out. “She wants to kill  _ all of us, _ just because we came first.” She took another sip of Janus’ drink, her fingers tightening around it in her anger, warping the plastic. A second later she set the drink down and smiled at him, anger completely dissipated. 

“You’re from the batch of seven that survived,” Janus said, filling in the blanks easily. A sneaking suspicion began worming its way into his head that Ellie wanting to kill them had less to do with them coming first and more to do with them being unhinged psychopaths. 

_ “Exactly,” _ Lila replied emphatically. She did not seem surprised that he knew this. “She’s crazy enough to run away from home, and to kidnap six strangers out of their own homes as well. She’s absolutely hellbent on tearing her father down, a man withering in his own old age. She deals in secrets, and she wouldn’t hesitate to sell you out if she could keep herself alive and playing the game.” 

Janus looked into her eyes, wide and earnest and wild. Her hands were clasped in front of her as though she were pleading her case. He just wasn’t quite sure what that was yet. “So what do you want me to do about it?” he asked her. “Say I believe every word coming out of your mouth, that Ellie’s a madwoman on a self destructive path, that she’s the one putting us in danger, that she’s been playing us every turn. What am I supposed to do with this information?” 

“Well,” Lila responded, sounding pleased, “we’ve been struggling to get rid of her for years now, but she keeps her location pretty secretive. All we need from you is the address.” 

Janus hesitated. The directions were on the tip of his tongue, he could expose Ellie for who she was and finally be rid of her once and for all. Yet he hesitated.  _ Why  _ did he hesitate? 

_ Because this woman is crazy,  _ a part of him whispers.  _ Because this woman is everything Ellie was trying to protect us from. Because maybe, just maybe, Ellie wasn’t as completely in the wrong as you thought she was.  _

“How did you find me so quickly?” he asked her instead, a cheap and flimsy deflection that he’s sure she picked up on, if the spark of anger in her eyes was any indication. 

“Easy,” Lila replied, her smile forced. “You set foot outside. There are eyes everywhere. She hid you from us for a longer time than we thought she’d be able to, but we’ve finally found you again.” She looked weirdly relieved as she said that, and her grin seemed to be stretched a little too wide for her face again. 

“Right,” Janus responded, now hyper aware of the cameras that sat atop every streetlight, every  _ click _ of photography around him, and every security camera in the shops. 

Lila just kept smiling at him, that same unnerving smile that made his stomach twist and constrict. He needed to get out of there. 

“Right,” Janus repeated again, standing up with a  _ scrape  _ as his chair scratched against the cobblestone below him. “Well it was lovely meeting you.” He took a step away from the table. “You seem like a very nice person.” Another step. “Maybe we should do this again sometime.” He made a break for it. 

Janus shifted as he ran, turning into Logan, then his grandmother, followed by a strange mix of Virgil and Remus, finally settling into the body of a little girl with shiny black hair and green eyes and a slight sneer on her face. He’d had a lot of practice shifting into her when he was a child as well, before he had used it to ruin her life. 

He had made it about four blocks before he decided he wasn’t being followed, and then he remembered Remus.  _ Oh shit.  _

Scrambling for his phone, he sent Remus a jumbled and frantic text about making sure he wasn’t being followed and then meeting him back at the Safehouse as soon as possible, and when Remus texted back  _ but wut about the pizza :(  _ he almost chucked his phone across the street before responding. 

Janus lay his head back against the brick wall and breathed out a small, shaky sigh, hearing the  _ ding  _ of his phone which meant Remus had texted him back again and doing his best to come down from his adrenaline high.  _ It’s going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay.  _

\-----

Lila watched Janus’ bleach blonde head bob away, mixing with the crowd around him. Even as she watched, she could see his hair begin to darken with color as he changed his physical form.  _ Smart boy. _ A small smirk began to play at the corners of her lips. What an interesting conversation that had been. He hadn’t believed her for a second. 

There was a sudden feeling of displacement next to her, and another woman stood there. It was a blink and you miss it moment. Even as Lila looked over, the other woman stumbled, growling curses and dropping to her knees. She wore thick, heavy braces over not only those joints, but her elbows as well. 

“What are you doing?” She hissed quickly, because this was not a woman who did anything slowly. “He’s getting away!”

Lila took another sip of her drink. “Oh please, Donna,” she replied with an eye roll. “You really shouldn’t be doing  _ that  _ when you don’t need to. Besides,” she continued, her smirk growing as she remembered Janus’ bleached tips fading to dusty brown and then black before he disappeared into the swirling crowd.  _ Smart boy, just not quite smart enough.  _ “This is our first and only chance in years and this is  _ you _ we’re talking about here. Did you really think I would just let him walk away?”

Realization flitted across Donna’s face as she understood the rest of Lila’s honestly not very in depth but still practical plan. “Of course not,” she replied, cracking her knuckles and preparing to chase. 

Lila’s hand on her arm stopped her, and she looked over. 

“You’re still weary,” Lila told her softly. “Rest a moment in preparation, we know you can afford to wait that long.” 

Donna sat down warily, keeping her eyes lazer fixed in the direction that Janus had fled, so that she could follow at a moment’s notice. 

“God, you’re so uptight,” Lila chuckled, rolling her eyes and offering the other woman the second of the two drinks. “Hot chocolate?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact number one, I've actually mentioned the girl that Janus turns into way earlier in the story (by name!) so kudos to anyone who figures out that little easter egg. 
> 
> Also, second fun fact, Roxanne's is also the cafe name I use in my Evermore AU, it's the cafe where Janus recites his poetry. This whole work is filled with foreshadowing and easter eggs I swear, you can't swing a stick without hitting foreshadowing or an easter egg of some kind lol :)
> 
> Hope y'all are having a great time and staying safe!


	19. Logan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, introducing the villians two chapters before the end of the story? It's more likely than you'd think. 
> 
> Don't worry, they don't matter a lot lol

If Janus and Remus had thought they had actually gotten away with their little stunt they were very much so mistaken. If they’d thought they could casually walk off the grass stains and panicked expressions, they were clearly incorrect. Logan was absolutely livid.

So when Janus came up to him later that day, all casual-like, Logan was already fueled with the rage of a thousand suns. 

“So,” Janus started conversationally, like he hadn’t been nothing but a thorn in Logan’s side for the entirety of his stay at the Safehouse, like he hadn’t tried to butt into things he didn’t have to be a part of yet too many times to count in the past. “What do you know about the other seven? You know, the failed experiments.” He examined his nails casually, not making eye contact. 

If there’s one thing he’s learned over his years, it’s how to conceal his emotions. So Logan puts on a simpering smile and asks Janus with all the frostiness of a crisp winter day, “Is there any particular reason you would like to know?” 

Janus looks around, giving off the appearance of being deep in thought. Finally, he shrugs. “Just curious,” he replied casually. 

“I see,” Logan responded, gritting his teeth together. 

He could tell Janus about Donna. He could tell him about her almost inhuman speed, the same speed that made her almost untrackable, the speed that made her perfect for things like following someone back to their homes without being seen. He could tell him about the way that her joints had lost nearly all of their meniscus due to her increasingly worn down body, not built for travelling at the speeds she travelled at. He could tell him how Virgil was everything she was but better.

He could have told Janus about Sadie, blinded as a result of an experiment gone wrong. He could have explained the way her powers were tied to her sight, the half baked illusions she could craft if she visualized what she hoped to show others. He could have explained that she could trap you in an endless world of unseeing if she so desired. After all, that’s the only thing she could see clearly anymore, so why not use it to her advantage? 

Maybe he should have brought Todd, the first one of the bunch they’d ever encountered. If he’d brought him up he would have been able to explain the slow decline of his powers the more they were used. The first time he’d been injured, he’d healed in seconds. Now? It took him minutes. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to heal fast enough to keep himself alive. 

Or perhaps Lila was the one he should have brought to Janus’ attention. She was probably the one he would have had the most interest in, seeing as she was the one who had initially approached Janus earlier that day. Of course Logan was blissfully unaware of this fact. All he knew about Lila was her peculiar relationship with gravity and the dizziness that seemingly accompanied her everywhere. 

Then again, Cassidy would have been a good option to talk about with him as well. She focused on muting senses, a worrisome talent to clash with. However, she could never keep this up very long, seeing as the piercing headaches she got as a result were often powerful enough to make her faint. Of the seven, Logan had actually predicted she would have been the easiest to get rid of. 

Isaac was the last unknown, and probably important enough to bring to Janus’ attention as well. However, he hardly even used his enhanced skill, due to the obvious issue with it. Isaac possessed a talent for fire manipulation that could spiral out of hand quickly if left unchecked. However, one only had to take one look at the burns covering his entire body to know that he was just as burnable as they were. 

Logan didn’t tell any of this to Janus. He didn’t share a single thing, not knowing that the other boy might need that information very soon. What Logan did tell Janus was, “I know you and Remus went outside.” 

Janus’ entire posture changes. He fixes Logan with a challenging look, quickly concealing the brief flash of guilt that Logan zeros in on. He doesn’t say anything. 

“Why.” It’s not even a question, it’s a snarl. “You had one job, Janus! Stay inside to keep everyone safe! In what way did you find that a difficult instruction to follow?” 

Janus just huffed, returning Logan’s snarl with one of his own. “Are you going to answer my question or not?” His tone is clipped. 

“Why should I?” Logan growled, because it never occurred to him that Janus would think to conceal something as bad as, say, running into the very people he was asking Logan about currently. 

“Fine!” Janus snapped at him angrily. “Then I don’t have to answer yours either!” And with that sentiment, he stalked off in the other direction. Logan heard a door slam as he entered the hallway, and then another a few moments later. He assumed Janus was now in the gym, most likely toting Remus along with him. 

He let out an angry hiss of air, pounding his fist on the counter next to him angrily. Everything had been so stressful lately, and this was honestly just the cherry on top. _Teenagers,_ he thought, along with a few other choice words. Patton poked his head through the door to the kitchen, looking a little concerned. 

“Hello, Patton,” Logan said, now pinching the bridge of his nose. “What ails you?” 

“Hey there, kiddo,” Patton replied with a half smile, stepping through the doorway and wringing his hands nervously. “I felt some high tensions over yonder in the kitchen, is everything going okay there?” 

“Everything is satisfactory, thank you Patton,” Logan replied. 

Patton paused. There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Logan’s head hurt. He wanted to sit down somewhere and stare into the middle distance. 

“You see, you say that, but everything about you is kinda saying the opposite.” Patton offered him an even smaller smile. 

_Right. Patton can feel my emotions._

Logan just shook his head, dismissing said emotions. “Janus thought that it would be a good idea for him and Remus to partake in a number of... outdoor activities.”

Patton gasped softly, sitting down in a nearby chair. 

“Exactly!” Logan cried, gesturing at Patton angrily as the rising tide of anger finally spilled over the edge of his figurative cup. “How could he think that something like that would be okay? He could have been seen, or worse, captured.”

Patton nodded along, staring at Logan, and Logan hadn’t realized just how very therapeutic this was, to have someone sitting and listening to his plight and gasping and nodding along at all the right parts. So, encouraged, he continued. He complained about how Janus hadn’t been cooperative from the beginning, how the other boy had picked fights at every angle and even gone so far as to impersonate him to get information from Ellie. He complained about sharing his space, his home, with everyone. He even complained about Roman, about the way his heart got all mushy and his thoughts slipped right out of his head around the other boy. He complained about feeling emotions to begin with, how everything had started going downhill from the moment the others arrived at the Safehouse and now he felt things almost constantly. He complained about how he’d been living here since he was a child and he had not once stooped to Janus’ level, sneaking out and catching a breath of cheap freedom. He ranted until his throat was sore, and then some. Patton listened to him attentively. 

He felt like crying. Everything was so stressful now, and Ellie had seen a conflict creeping ever closer for weeks now. Things had been moving around at Rise, big things. People, supplies, weapons. A storm was coming and the seven of them would have to be prepared to weather it. 

On top of that, Janus was a thorn in his side, constantly pushing. He gave him an inch and he took a mile. It was aggravating, and he was tired of feeling like a babysitter. That being said, he hadn’t actually ever expected Janus to go so far as to go outside. 

When he was done talking, Logan brushed his hair out of his face self consciously. His cheeks were a little pink, but his heart was a little lighter, and Patton hadn’t broken eye contact with him once. He paused. He wasn’t sure what to do now, but the look on the other boy’s face was so sympathetic it hurt. 

Slowly, Patton stood up and grabbed his arms, pulling him into a hug. Logan stiffened to begin with, tensing in spite of Patton’s warm arms, but he tentatively relaxed into the other boy’s hold, raising his own arms and squeezing Patton back. Patton hummed appreciatively, and Logan let himself smile a little bit, in spite of his vision blurring with tears. 

Patton didn’t pull back until he did, and when Logan broke the hug, Patton still had that same smile on his face. He spoke softly. “You have a lot on your plate, kiddo. You’ve _had_ a lot on your plate. Why don’t you take a little time to calm down? You can stay in here with me and Virgil, or you can find something to do on your own, but take a bit of time to calm down before you talk to Janus again, okay?” 

At the mention of Virgil, Logan turned. Immediately his face colored a brilliant red, spotting the other boy standing awkwardly in the doorway. “How long were you standing here?” Logan asked him, his tone lacking its usual sharpness. He just couldn’t bring himself to add it. 

Virgil wasn’t making eye contact. “Just for some of the end of it,” he muttered. “Pat wanted to meet me here to make a cake.” 

“A cake?” Logan asked, gratefully latching onto the new topic of conversation. 

“Yeah, a cake!” Patton grinned a little sheepishly. “For when Ellie comes back, a welcome back cake!” 

“Well that sounds really… nice.” Logan nodded, acutely aware of the small, slightly lovestruck looks that Virgil and Patton were throwing one another and realizing that the two of them would probably want a bit of time alone. Come to think of it, he didn’t think the two of them had ever sorted out their romantic awkwardness, something that he wanted no part in. He began to back out of the room slowly. “Well, if you two need anything,” he cleared his throat awkwardly, “please let me know.” 

“Will do.” Virgil shot him an awkward salute. After a moment of silence, he tacked a “feel better, dude,” on the end of that. 

Logan closed the door to the kitchen very carefully, and then immediately made a break for his room, head down. Of course, now that he had _five new roommates,_ he only made it about four feet before he ran into another one of them. 

“Oof!” he collided with Roman’s chest, wincing slightly and putting a steadying hand out in front of him to catch his balance. The Safehouse never seemed as big as it used to be anymore… 

“Hey there, Teach,” Roman replied, amusement dancing in his tone. “Any particular reason you’re perusing our halls this fine day?” 

Logan looked up into his eyes, and Roman’s gaze turned from amusement to concern in a heartbeat. “Oh my gosh, Logan, what happened?” 

“What are you referring to? I am adequate,” Logan replied, pretending like his eyes weren’t glistening slightly with unshed tears and his entire face didn’t look like hell right now. _That settles it, emotions are the worst._

Roman gave him a look that told him he knew Logan was full of bullshit. “Logan.” 

He sighed. “Nothing is wrong, Roman. I am simply feeling a little bit… overwhelmed.” 

Roman’s brow furrowed immediately, and he put his hands on his hips authoritatively. “Well that simply won’t do!” 

“What won’t do?” Logan asked him wearily. 

“You feeling less than stellar! We can’t have everyone’s favorite nerd feeling under the weather now, can we?” 

“I really can’t see how I could be described as ‘everyone’s favorite nerd’ when I most certainly am not-” 

Logan’s next words were cut off as Roman swooped down and pulled him into a chaste kiss, effectively shutting him up. When the two of them pulled apart, Logan blinked owlishly at him, his brain turned to fluff. 

Roman just bopped him on the nose. “Now that’s the kind of negative self talk we won’t be condoning during mandatory-Logan-relaxing time, you hear me?” 

“Uhhh,” Logan replied eloquently. 

“Fantastic. Follow me,” Roman replied with a grin. “I know of an excellent documentary on the migration of birds that you and I can argue furiously over.” 

And so Logan followed the other boy obediently, trailing behind him and entering the commons area without much protest at all. A documentary did seem quite nice…

\-----

Virgil lounged against the kitchen counter, watching Patton slide the batter into the oven. From what he could tell, Logan and Roman had been arguing over some documentary for the better part of the last half hour. Good. Logan seemed like he needed a distraction. “You’re too nice, Patton,” he said with a small smile. He was always smiling around Patton though, that was nothing new. 

“What do you mean?” Patton said with a small giggle, a light blush tinting his cheeks. Virgil wanted to kiss him again, just for looking that cute. 

“I dunno, you always think about others,” Virgil offered up, smiling. Admittedly, he’d done most of the actual ”baking,” but Patton had gotten out all of the ingredients and preheated the oven all on his own. “You wanted to make a cake for Ellie and you managed to help Logan open up for once. You always know what to say. It’s sweet.” 

“Well you’re sweet to say that!” Patton replied, and Virgil couldn’t help but notice the slight awkwardness in the air between them, masked by Patton’s grin. 

He opened his mouth to say something else, but his gut twisted, and his gaze snapped to the door to the kitchen, now creaking open slowly. 

“Well isn’t this cute,” a voice wafted through the gap, sickeningly sweet. Patton straightened up from the oven as well, eyes flicking over to Virgil in confusion. 

“Janus, if this is you, this isn’t funny,” Virgil called out. There was only one girl who lived in the Safehouse, to the best of his knowledge, and this wasn’t her. 

“Oh, Janus? No, you’re mistaken,” the voice replied, and Virgil could hear her smirk. His blood went cold.

Everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last couple of chapters will probably be from multiple povs since they're happening simultaniously, but I'm super excited to show you guys them! This chapter was mostly lead up, sorry 
> 
> Hope you're all happy and staying safe! You guys are the best! :D


	20. Virgil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone make sure to hop aboard the angst train cause boy oh boy it's a trip and a half
> 
> I'm back 5.5k words of angst and other icky stuff, alternating between Virgil and Logan's perspective, since this is happening simultaniously. (I do use Donna's name after a while just so y'all know who she is, even if Virgil and Patton don't. They never need to address her by name so it's all good lol)

Virgil’s first thought was that the lights had been turned off. Then, he realized he couldn’t even see the lights on the display of the oven. He couldn’t see anything.  _ What is this?  _

He raised one hand in front of his face, waving it back and forth. Five pale fingers wiggled awkwardly back and forth, comically visible. Correction; he couldn’t see anything except for himself and the void that surrounded him. His heartbeat picked up, loud and tauntingly pounding in his ears.

“Virgil?” Patton sounded far away, but that couldn’t be right, Virgil had been right next to him only seconds ago. He reached out a little, unsure. The counter was cool beneath his fingers. 

There was a slight creak to Virgil’s left, nothing more than a floorboard. He stilled, fear flooding his form.  _ Patton is to my right, not my left.  _ “Patton?” he whispered into the darkness around him, trying to keep the fear from his voice. He knew he didn’t succeed. 

“Virgil, I don’t like this,” Patton called back. “Where are the lights?” 

There was another creak to his left, and Virgil whipped his head around. Even if there was something there, it wasn’t anything he could see. 

“I don’t know,” Virgil called back, biting his lip. His heart was pounding in his chest. “I don’t like it either, Pat. The lights should be over by the door.” Something told him it wasn’t the lights that were the problem.

There was some shuffling from Patton’s side of the room, followed by a tiny  _ oof,  _ as Patton presumably ran into a nearby chair. 

“Careful,” Virgil called out nervously. He gripped the counter behind him tighter, grounding himself on something he couldn’t even see. 

“Yes, careful, Patton. We wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.” 

The third voice startled both of them, and Patton let out a tiny, undignified shriek upon hearing it. 

“Who’s there?” Virgil demanded, whirling in the direction of the voice and putting his fists up. He resisted the horribly cliche urge to yell, ‘show yourself!’.

“That  _ is _ the question, isn’t it?” The fourth voice startled him even more than the third. He hadn’t even heard the fourth person. Maybe they had been there all along. “It appears we have yet to be acquainted.” This voice was softer than the other one, almost childlike. “My name is Sadie, and my friend Donna is the one to your left, I believe.” 

“You don’t know where she is either?” Patton called out. His voice sounded shaky, and he hadn’t made a move since the voices had come into play. All things considered, he was doing a much better job at taking this in stride than Virgil thought he would. “Are we all in the dark here? Can you not see too?” 

“No.” Sadie’s voice was suddenly cold, angry. “But she can.” 

\-----

Logan wished he would have seen this coming. Honestly, he should have been more on guard to begin with. But Roman had been cuddling him closely, kissing him on the nose or the cheek or the lips whenever he made a point about the documentary they were watching that seemed particularly salty. Roman’s whole being was honestly distracting, his expressions of excitement or disgust or even calm indifference were so captivating. He had been absolutely right as well, Logan’s opinions on the documentary differed vastly from his own, and the two of them had been domestically bickering since Roman pressed play on the TV remote. 

The door busted open behind them and Logan sighed, expecting Remus. Then, he heard the click of the safety of a gun. 

“Get down!” he exclaimed, pushing Roman and himself off of the couch and to the carpeted floor. Luckily, the back of the couch was to the door, so they had cover for now, but the coffee table was now sandwiching the two of them between itself and the couch, and they had nowhere to go. There was only one entrance to the common room. 

Only one gunshot went off, ripping a hole in the wall next to the TV. It was like a switch had been flipped in his brain. This was exactly the kind of situation Ellie had primed him to deal with when he was younger. Looking around the room, everything seemed to come into focus, crystal clear. 

Beside him, Roman’s heartbeat was thundering, and the other boy looked slightly shell shocked. Logan pushed the sudden jump of protective guilt to the back of his mind and focused on the problem at hand. He could be comforting and tender later, for a scheduled period of time. Not right now. Not while there was a gun pointed in their direction with intent to injure.

“Damn,” the intruder huffed. 

“You have to deal with him,” Logan whispered urgently to Roman, who appeared to be frozen in place. 

“What?” he whispered back, blinking with his big chocolate eyes and sounding a little dazed. 

“Roman, out of the two of us I do believe that you are the one immune to gunshot wounds,” Logan pointed out quietly, biting his lip nervously. “So get out there and do what you do best, and leave anyone else to me.” He didn’t want to sound like he was ordering the other boy around, but he wasn’t sure Roman would be able to move if he didn’t prod him. 

“Come out come out wherever you are,” the intruding man called, heavy boots thunking on the soft carpet as he started walking towards them. Logan felt a sudden, familiar flood of adrenaline.

“Right,” Roman replied, a look of understanding crossing his face. He all but smacked himself on the forehead. “I have nothing to worry about.” 

The footsteps were getting closer. In all honesty, there wasn’t that much room between the doorway and the couch.    
  


“You’ve got this,” Logan whispered, reaching out as if to touch him but pulling back at the last minute. 

Roman shot him a grin and stood up, coming almost face to face with Todd. Logan knew his boyfriend couldn’t be hurt by bullets, he knew it like he knew he had ten fingers and ten toes. Still, something about sending his inexperienced boyfriend to deal with a murderous, gun wielding man didn’t sit well with him. 

“You!” Roman exclaimed, sounding horrified to see Todd again, and that was the last thing Logan heard before his hearing faded out completely. Running through his mental database, he came to the only logical conclusion.  _ Cassidy,  _ he thought, making a face. With Todd now occupied with Roman and the gun hopefully no longer a part of the equation, Logan felt safe enough to stand up. 

He looked over to the door frame, where she would be standing behind Todd if she was smart at all. 

Indeed, there she stood, long blonde hair coming down to around her shoulders and her hands on her hips. She, like the rest of her team, was wearing all black, and her green eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the sight of him. 

Logan sighed. A part of him wanted to help Roman out, to assist with bringing down Todd. He spared a glance in their direction, taking note of Roman’s broader, more circular swings and Todd’s precise, brutal ones. Todd was playing more of a defensive game, trying to tire Roman out, which made sense. If Roman didn’t have his super strength, he probably wouldn’t stand a chance against the more experienced man. It was for the best that he kept to himself. 

Stepping forward slowly, he watched her mirror his actions. Interesting. Her file hadn’t said anything about her being quick to initiate combat.

Cassidy, surprisingly, made the first move. Her powers themselves may not have done much good at all, but her hand to hand combat had been nearly perfected. Even still, as Logan snapped his wrist to the left to knock her punch out of the way, his ears were suddenly clear again and he could hear the echoes of Roman and Todd’s face off, the two throwing themselves into each other as hard as they could and trying to knock one another off kilter. 

“Roman!” Logan shouted, “Go for the legs!” 

“What?” Roman yelled back at him, as Todd suddenly dove at his lower half, knocking the surprised boy off of his feet and sending him crashing to the floor, arms pinwheeling as he did. 

Logan had to resist the urge to smack himself in the face.  _ Great idea, Berry, yell your plan aloud so the enemy can hear it.  _ Ellie would have been so disappointed in him. 

As soon as Cassidy’s arm was knocked aside, Logan lost the contact his power needed to work, and everything went dull again.  _ Well this is terribly infuriating.  _

With a huff of annoyance, he blocked another few of Cassidy’s punches. He had to give her some credit, while she wasn’t very strong at all, she made up for it in her footwork. It wasn’t often that Logan came across someone able to match him in speed, (excluding Virgil, of course) but Cassidy was built for optimization. 

He grabbed her shoulders, sweeping his own leg behind her own and knocking her to the floor, but she rolled out from underneath him quicker than he could have imagined, shoving her knee into his side while he was still bent down. 

Stumbling back slightly, Logan felt his back hit the side of the couch.  _ Crap.  _ Instinctively, he brought his arms up to guard his face, just as Cassidy aimed a deft kick at him, her foot colliding with his makeshift shield and bouncing off. 

He ducked out of the way while she was off balance, taking his own advice and just going for her supporting leg. 

She tumbled over him, her hair brushing his neck, and Logan groaned slightly, feeling her weight collide with his back. He rolled away from her to regain his balance, his head throbbing slightly as his hearing cut out once more. Across from him, Cassidy mirrored his motions, clutching at her temple as he massaged his own.  _ Ouch.  _

He spared Roman a quick look, seeing him stumble a little over his own two feet and wincing slightly. Turning back to his own fight, he blocked another few weak punches before throwing one of his own, nailing her solar plexus. 

Cassidy stumbled back for a moment, winded, but she quickly charged back in and grabbed a fistful of his dark locks and smashed his head down on the back of the couch. 

Immediately, his vision was filled with stars. “Shit,” he grunted as she released him, unable to hear himself, his heart pounding in his ears. He could feel a trickle of blood down the side of his face, and he shook it off as best as he could, sliding back into his defensive state.  _ Come on, you’ve endured worse than this.  _

Cassidy grinned. Her teeth were stained with blood, though whether from Logan’s fists or as a side effect of using her power, Logan wasn’t quite sure. He mirrored her bloody grin with one of his own. 

\-----

“What do you mean-” Virgil started to ask, but a shot went off and he jumped, whirling towards the source of the noise. “What the hell was that?” he gasped. 

“Gunshot,” Sadie said carelessly. “I suppose that’s our cue then…” 

“What’s your cue?” Virgil asked her desperately, but her voice faded into the darkness, and all he could hear was the shuffling around him. 

The first blow nearly knocked him out in one hit. It was fast, faster than Virgil could even comprehend, and he stumbled back, knocking his hipbone against the marble counter behind him with a soft his of pain. Pain blossomed in his cheek, where the blow had connected, and he heard Patton let out a cry from somewhere to his right. 

“Oh yeah, that felt good,” the voice said. He could hear joints popping. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.” 

Another blow, this time to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Virgil choked on nothing, forcing air back into his system. “Shit,” he growled, “I don’t even know you.” 

There was another laigh, soft and deadly and angry. “You will.” 

A third blow, a kick to his legs that had him slipping from standing to the floor in seconds. “Ah!” he hissed out, groaning and resisting the urge to curl in on himself. He couldn’t hear Patton anymore. He just hoped he was safe. 

“You know,” the voice said again, “I was supposed to be you. I was everything you were, with a few minor flaws. You know, they shouldn’t be able to hold me accountable for something that isn’t my fault at all.” 

Another kick came his way, inhumanly fast, and Virgil had barely a second to hear it before it collided with his stomach. He felt his mouth fill with blood. 

_ This isn’t going to work,  _ his brain supplied helpfully. 

Another kick, this time to his back, and Virgil weathered it with another groan of pain.  _ I’ve got to do something about this.  _

_ But what can you even do?  _ His brain asked him, almost taunting. 

Donna let out a harsh laugh. It seemed to echo in the empty space. 

Objectively, there wasn’t much he could do from his current position. He was curled up as tightly as he could, blind to any incoming objects, and unable to find Patton. 

_ Blind as a bat.  _

Wait a second, he could work with that.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he whispered, biting his lower lip in pain. 

The assault on his bruised and battered body came to a halt. “Of course you don’t,” Donna replied voice icy. “You were never snatched off the streets and experimented on against your will. You were never locked away and hidden from everyone and everything, told that you were an abomination. You’re not somehow still working for the man who made you into the freak that you are.” She growled out the last bit. “You were never looked at as a failure for something you could never control.”

“That’s fair,” Virgil said with another heaving cough. He felt blood drip down from his lips. “I never experienced that. But I didn’t do that to you.” 

“No,” Donna replied, and instead of sounding open minded, as he had hoped, she just sounded bitter. “You didn’t. But I can still take it out on you.” 

She aimed another kick at him, this time at his face, but this time Virgil was ready. He heard her leg whistle through the air, rolling out of the way and springing to his feet as best he could. A spike of pain ran through his whole being. 

“You son of a bitch-” Donna aimed a punch at him this time, and time seemed to still. Usually, when Virgil fully utilized his powers, everyone else was in slow motion, but Donna moved at the same speed he did. It was oddly reminiscent of his first fight with Logan, finding someone who could move as quickly as he did in combat. He smacked her hand out of the way with his forearm, reaching around suddenly and grabbing the arm with his blocking hand. 

Donna let out a hiss of surprise, and then Virgil yanked her, bringing his knee up and listening as it connected with her stomach. The two of them stumbled back from one another, Virgil’s breathing ragged and Donna’s laced with coughing as she doubled over, trying to regain her balance. 

Virgil paused for a minute. He knew she was doubled over. How did he know she was doubled over? He felt like a bat, that was for sure. 

He didn’t check back into the fight in time to block her next kick, and he took the roundhouse to the face, hissing in pain as her shoe clad foot snapped his jaw to the right. Just because she wasn’t fast by his standards didn’t mean she wasn’t fast, and he could already feel his pasty skin beginning to bruise. 

They exchanged a few more blows, and Virgil finally pinned down what he was hearing. It wasn’t so much that the sounds he was making were bouncing off of his surroundings, like echolocation, it was more that he was able to take in what angle the sound around him was coming from. If Donna was facing him, her breathing was louder than if she was facing the ground. He was sure if he tried hard enough he could get some feedback from the environment around him, but that wasn’t exactly something he was jumping to investigate now. 

Donna’s fist connected with his jaw, and the world was snapped back into its full glory around him. 

“Oh, shit!” Virgil hissed out a curse. Only moments later, light flooded his eyes and the room faded back into focus. Though the shock of the transition made him flinch, his eyes took no time whatsoever to adjust to the perceived sudden rush of light around him. Perhaps that was because they never technically had to. 

He locked eyes on Donna, taking in her close cropped ashen hair and the determined set of her eyes. Around her elbows and knees were black braces, and he was sure there were others hidden beneath her clothes and wrapped around her ankles. Immediately, his brow furrowed. 

Patton stood to his right, still, their electric mixer in his hand. Below him was a tiny woman with thin red hair and barely any meat on her bones whatsoever. She was clothed in the same blackened garb as the rest of her team, but unlike them, she looked less healthy and more malnourished. Her ribs jutted out and her face was sunken in, her cheekbones prominent. Her eyes were open as well, the dusty and faded orbs staring at nothing. 

A chill went down Virgil’s spine.  _ She was the one who took our sight away.  _

Patton looked horrified. Very slowly, he turned to look at Virgil. “Did I kill her?” he whispered. 

“Probably,” Donna commented, and Virgil turned his attention back to her. Upon second inspection, her cheek was cut and her arms were bruised and beaten. He felt a sick sense of twisted pride in his stomach. “She was never very strong.” 

“Neither am I,” Patton whispered. 

“That’ll make my job easier,” Donna replied, sounding bored. And then she flew at Patton like she’d been shot out of a canon. 

For someone with so much grasp on so much extra time, Virgil never had any. He was able to grab time like a sheet, bunching it up and smoothing it out and travelling across it as he pleased, but he never had any time to think. All he saw was the woman, throwing herself past him, and Patton, stumbling back, horror clear as day on his face. 

The knife block was on the counter to his left, within reach. In a single fluid motion, he grabbed the knife, pulling it out and stabbing it into Donna’s stomach as she tried to slip past him. 

Everything stumbled to a halt. Donna let out a gasp, and Virgil let go of the knife, moving back to Patton’s side in a blur of movement, staying between him and Donna. 

“Y-you stabbed me,” Donna made out as her breathing grew raggedy. Her knees, already shaking, began to buckle. 

“Yeah,” Virgil replied, his voice not wavering for a second. Next to him, Patton slipped a hand into his, squeezing. He could hear the other boy’s heartbeat, thundering away in his chest. 

“We read up on you guys for this mission,” Donna muttered, and Virgil was unsure if she was addressing them directly or if they were just overhearing her last lament. “You weren’t supposed to be-” she groaned and sunk to her knees, “-you weren’t supposed to be able to kill.They told me you wouldn’t want to kill…” 

Virgil tightened his grip on Patton’s hand. “You’d be surprised what I’d do for him,” he replied. 

Donna let out a final hiss of pain. “Son of a bitch…” And she slumped to the ground. 

Patton let out a tiny shriek next to him, whether from her final collapse or just as a result of his adrenaline wearing off, Virgil wasn’t sure. 

“Hey, Pat,” he whispered, a small smile crossing his face.  _ We did it. We freaking did it.  _

Patton looked up at him, his big blue eyes teary and conflicted and absolutely beautiful. 

“Hey,” Virgil repeated, cupping the other boy’s face in his hands, checking him over for injuries. Apart from some of the bruises on the other boy’s arms and legs, he seemed to be in one piece. 

“I-” Patton swallowed. “I know I shouldn’t feel glad right now, but I’m just so relieved you’re okay I can’t think straight.” 

Virgil let out a tiny laugh at that, the sound feeling foreign in his throat. It echoed a little in the now eerily quiet room. He kept his gaze fixed firmly on Patton’s face. “I love you.” 

Patton’s lips twitched once, twice, and then he buried his face in Virgil’s shoulder and began to sob. 

“Patton!” Virgil said in alarm, hugging the other boy closer to him and stroking his hair a little. “Shh, hey now, you’re okay, we’re okay. We’re okay and I love you.” He paused, before smiling. He’d been so afraid to say it before, but what did he have to lose now. “I love you, Pat.” 

“I love you too!” Patton cried into his shoulder, wet and teary, and then he looked up and they were kissing again, Virgil holding him so tightly he worried the other boy couldn’t breathe. Patton didn’t complain.  _ I’m never letting him go ever again,  _ he vowed to himself. 

Patton’s hands came up to cup his face before faltering, flitting around the bruising on his cheek and jaw and finally settling somewhere around his shoulders, tears trickling down his cheeks as he came down from the emotional high. 

“You’re okay,” Virgil kept whispering, rubbing his back, “I’ve got you.” 

There was another gunshot from the next room.

Virgil and Patton both jerked their heads in the direction of the open door. 

:”What was that?” Patton asked. 

“Logan and Roman…” Virgil whispered, the blood draining from his face. 

\-----

His entire body was riddled with bruises, and he ached all over. Cassidy had tried to gouge his eyes out after realizing that traditional tactics would fail her, fighting dirty instead in hope of winning. When she’d missed, she’d raked long stinging lines under his eyes and down his cheeks. 

“I will admit,” Logan panted, knocking her hand away from his face again and dancing out of reach, “You are a lot tougher than I gave you credit for.” 

Cassidy just grinned wider at that. There was blood under her fingernails, and her hair was messy, frizzy and displaced. 

For the sixth time that evening, Logan cursed his lack of weapons. The closest thing to a bludgeon he could find in the commons was a game of connect four left on the floor after Remus didn’t clean up after himself earlier. Something told him Cassidy wouldn’t be that pleased to be smacked over the forehead with a thin piece of plastic, but he didn’t think it would do that much damage either. 

His only consolation was that she was slowing down, getting tired. Her movements were just a beat slower, her footwork just a couple seconds behind. He just had to wait for the right opportunity, and…

Cassidy lunged at him again, off kilter. So many of her moves were off kilter now. Perfect.

Stepping swiftly to the side, Logan kicked the back of her knee, forcing her into a kneeling position. His hands were around her head in a second.

“Are you gonna kill me, you little piece of shit?” Cassidy whispered, and Logan was relieved that he was able to hear her say it with his own two ears. “Are you going to snap my neck right in front of your little boyfriend?”

Logan gritted his teeth. “Go to hell,” he whispered in her ear, moving his hands down to her neck and squeezing. When she finally slumped over he released his grip, flexing his fingers slightly and looking down on her body in distaste. “Besides,” he mentioned, to no one in particular, “it’s not necessarily as easy as you think to snap someone’s neck in one clean motion like that. There’s no need to be overly obtuse.” 

Stepping up from her body, he looked up, eyes searching for Roman. He locked onto the other boy immediately, watching his mental grapple with Todd. If he tried to interfere now, it would only hinder Roman’s concentration, but it didn’t sit well in his stomach to just do nothing. 

Roman spared him a glance, sending him a hasty grin and backing away from Todd slightly as he did so. 

“I’m fine!” Logan called over to him, “Do what you have to!” 

Roman nodded, turning back to Todd once more. The other man was reaching for his gun again, a devious look in his eye that Roman probably wasn’t focused on in the slightest. 

Logan made to step even further back, away from Roman to give him the space he needed, when another shot went past his head with a  _ bang.  _ Immediately, he dropped into a duck and cover position. Two more shots followed the first. 

“Hey!” Roman cried, alarm clouding his voice. “Focus on me!” 

“Naw,” Todd replied, and Logan could practically hear his grin. He sounded like he was getting closer, but Logan couldn’t see around the couch. “This is more fun.” 

Another shot echoed through the room, blowing a hole through the couch next to Logan’s face. He sucked in a breath.  _ I have to move.  _

He braced himself for only a moment (hesitation would get him nowhere, Ellie had drilled that enough) before jumping to the left of the couch and doing his best to scamper out of the way, putting Roman between him and Todd once more. 

Todd had a bloody nose and Roman was… well, Roman was still completely untouched. His fists were up around his nose, and his back was inches from Logan’s front. He was practically buzzing with energy. 

_ When did we all get so close together?  _ Logan wondered, nervously looking from Roman to Todd to the couch effectively blocking off most of the rest of the room to them. 

Todd aimed his gun at Roman’s face, and Logan could see Roman’s entire body language change from mostly defensive to more just plain confused. He imagined there was a befuddled frown on his face. 

“Why are you aiming for me, you know you can’t-” Roman started. 

And then several things happened at once. Todd shifted the gun just slightly down and to the left, pulling the trigger. Logan’s brain caught up to the situation, and he tried to duck out of the line of fire. And Roman? Roman just grabbed Logan’s shoulders and shoved him out of the way. 

Logan hit his head on the floor as the gunshot faded. Groaning slightly, he saw Roman stagger backwards for a second, before righting himself and moving for Todd, favoring his right.  _ That’s odd, Roman usually favors his left.  _

His head was still buzzing slightly. 

Logan heard a sickening crunch as he got to his feet, and he knew that if he looked over towards Todd’s body, he would see the red stain spreading across his living room floor and the remains of a broken man lying on the carpet. He didn’t look. 

Roman staggered back around the other side of the couch, shooting Logan a blinding grin and sinking down to his level immediately with a small wince. “Hey,” he whispered, “You’re okay.” 

“Of course I am okay,” Logan replied, head and body throbbing with pain. “I was not shot, and we managed to incapacitate our intruders with minimal injury to our persons, if any. I am more than okay.”    
  
“That’s really great, Specs,” Roman said with a small smile, his voice sounding strangely high strung. 

Logan furrowed his brows, calling him out on it. “You’re acting strange.” 

“Who, me?” Roman asked him, still sounding like he was hiding something. And then Logan noticed the steady red trickle running down his right arm. 

“You’re hurt!” The statement was much more emotionally charged than Logan would have usually hoped for, but in that moment nothing mattered except figuring out what was wrong with Roman. “Roman, what’s wrong? What happened?” 

“Nothing, seriously,” Roman replied, too quickly. “It’s totally fine, dude, don’t worry about me, it’s no big deal.” 

“Roman,” Logan said, dread growing in his stomach as his brain filled in the blanks that Roman didn’t want to fill in for him. “The only time you could have been hurt was when you were touching me.” 

There was a beat of silence. “Well, you got me on that one,” Roman replied, still shying away from him even as Logan reached for his shoulder, trying to assess the source of the bleeding. Roman had been wearing a red shirt, and that had concealed things pretty well to begin with, but the growing red stain down his arm was incredibly concerning now that he could see it. 

“Please,” Logan asked him, unable to keep the slight crackle of fear out of his voice, “Please just let me see if you’re okay.” 

“Can’t you just trust me on this one?” Roman asked him, but Logan was already shaking his head, heart in his throat. 

“No, no Roman, no I can’t.” Logan shook his head again. “Not on this.” 

Roman bit his lip, but he allowed Logan to peel back the sleeve from his shoulder with nothing more than a slight hiss of pain. 

The dread in Logan’s stomach curled tighter within him as he looked at the perfectly round bullet wound in Roman’s shoulder. Even as he watched, Roman took another shuddery breath, the wound oozing more redness on the exhale. 

“Really, Logan, it’s fine,” Roman winced a little more. “I just feel a little lightheaded.” 

“You-” Logan swallowed, trying not to let his fear creep into his words. “Did the bullet go out the other side?” 

Roman shook his head once. 

“You need to elevate the wound,” Logan directed, his thoughts scrambling as the horrifying mantra of  _ you did this, you did this, you did this,  _ repeated over and over in his head. His arms flitted nervously over Roman’s arms. “This doesn’t have to- this won’t be fatal but you can’t bleed out. I need to apply pressure, shit-” 

Virgil and Patton appeared in the doorway, Virgil letting out an audible swear of his own as they arrived to see Logan and Roman kneeling on the floor, blood gushing from the taller boy. 

“Logan, what happened?” Patton choked out, as Virgil stared at them, horrified. 

“I- not the time, just get me a towel or something similar,” Logan choked out, feeling his throat close up. He couldn’t afford to get emotional right now. “I need something to apply pressure. Quickly!” 

“Right,” Patton whispered, scrambling into motion almost immediately, tugging Virgil along. “Right, we’ll be right back, there should be something in the kitchen!” 

“Roman, please lean back against the couch at least,” Logan choked out. “You’re looking pale.”

“No, I shan’t,” Roman retorted. “I’m fine.” He gave Logan another smile.

“Just stop saying you’re fine, okay?” Logan snapped back, anger masking the quickly building anxiety and fear inside of him. “Stop telling me you’re fine and smiling at me like that when all I’ve ever done for you is fuck things up!”

Roman paused. “Now wait just a second,” he gritted his teeth as he flexed his shoulder slightly. “What exactly do you mean by that?” 

“I mean,” Logan paused, trying to figure out exactly what he meant. “I mean that you were better off not knowing me. Logically speaking, I’ve done nothing but kidnap you and hold you hostage and drag you into something you weren’t a part of and get you injured. You should hate me.” 

“I don’t care,” Roman replied stubbornly, and there was that spark that had made Logan fall so head over heels for him in the first place. “Also you’re wrong. I know that doesn’t happen a lot for you, but you’ve never been more wrong about anything in your entire life, Logan Berry. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“But when you’re with me you’re…” Logan paused, his jaw tightening as hot tears threatened to fall. His next words came out a strangled whisper. “You’re breakable.”

Roman let out a soft chuckle, reaching up and touching his cheek. “For you, my love? I’d shatter.” 

Tears spilled down Logan’s face and he bit his lip, letting out a choked sort of sob as he buried his face in Roman’s uninjured shoulder. 

“Shh, hey now,” Roman whispered softly, brushing his hair out of his face. 

“I’m sorry,” Logan breathed shakily, again and again. He didn’t know exactly why he was crying but now he couldn’t stop. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

  
Roman just eased his head back gently, finally leaning against the back of the sofa. “I don’t regret it for a minute,” he whispered, holding the other boy under his arm as best as he could with his injured shoulder. Roman might have been the one bleeding, but Logan felt like he might fall apart there and then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was four chapters into this fic when I woke up in a cold sweat and jotted down the whole 'with me you're breakable' and 'for you my love i'd shatter' lines and immediately fell back asleep and literally that's what helped me figure out exactly how I wanted to craft these last few chapters
> 
> Next chapter will be a Logan chapter! Then, possibly an epilogue? I hope I didn't crush everyone's hearts too badly! :)


	21. Logan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plz don't hate me guys
> 
> (I'm really putting that "author chose not to use tags" to use this chapter)
> 
> Oh also before you go, you may notice that this has been made a series! This is both because a sequel is being made and also because I already posted a little oneshot with these boys! If you'd like to check out something in this world that's a little less angsty, that has been up for like a day or so! :)

Virgil and Patton got back as quickly as they could, and they sat and watched as Logan wrapped and applied pressure to Roman’s shoulder with barely shaking hands. 

“What do we do?” Patton asked him quietly. He was sitting on his knees, blood staining the cuffs of his jeans and purple bruises dancing along his arms. Logan felt another stab of guilt, looking him and Virgil over.  _ We should never have involved them,  _ a part of him argued.  _ They would have been involved whether they wanted to be or not,  _ another part of him argued back. He pushed them both aside to do what Ellie had been training him to do for years now; lead. 

His voice was steady as he spoke to them, divulging information that none of them wanted to hear. “There are more of them.” 

“What? How?” Patton exclaimed, at the same time that Virgil cried, “We barely survived the first wave!” 

Logan shook his head. “You forget. Six of us, six of them. I’m assuming that Ellie’s father sent out a smaller team so as not to attract too much attention, to gather us all up and transport us back to where we were made. Once here, they would have assessed the situation and then divided into teams of two, specifically tailored to our individual weaknesses. For instance, Todd and Cassidy who could heal and mute, were sent to deal with Roman’s strength and to hinder the possible spread of information between the two of us that would have proven quite helpful otherwise.” 

“That makes sense,” Patton said, biting his lip. 

“Thus, I am assuming that you two were pitted against Donna and Sadie,” Logan continued. 

“We never learned their names,” Virgil replied. He wasn’t making eye contact.

“Donna would have been chosen, seeing as she’s the only match for your speed, and if she had Sadie with her it would have been comically easy to incapacitate the two of you, due to her illusions.” 

Virgil shuddered a little at that, a gesture not unnoticed by Logan. He would have to address that later. 

“It was just so dark,” Patton whispered quietly. 

Logan just nodded. “Then my hypothesis was correct. I am sorry that you were forced to deal with that. Unfortunately for everyone involved, that leaves Isaac and Lila to go after Remus and Janus.” 

“What can they do?” Virgil asked. 

“Isacc, for lack of a better word, controls fire and Lila can control gravity’s effect on herself and others,” Logan replied. “They are arguably the most dangerous combination of the three, and they are certainly the most ruthless. Lila would be a natural match for Remus’ energy redirection, and Isaac is a danger to himself and others. He doesn’t listen to anyone except for Lila.” 

Patton shrunk a little further into the floor. 

Logan bit his lip. He knew the logical thing to do here was to leave Roman here, where it was safe, and take the other able bodied members of his party to help neutralize the rest of the threat as quickly and efficiently as possible. Sentiment made him decide otherwise. These two had done more than enough. 

“Patton, Virgil, you need to get Roman out of here,” Logan said decisively. “Be careful, be quick, and help him as far from this place as you can without hurting him any more than he’s already been hurt.” He looked down at his boyfriend’s face. At some point during the conversation, his eyes had slipped shut, and he was letting out little shallow breaths. He looked almost peaceful. “I am going to go and assist Remus and Janus.” 

“Are you sure?” Virgil asked him, and even as he asked, he looked pained at the thought of even attempting to charge back into another fight. 

Logan nodded curtly, once. “Yes.” He got to his feet, grabbing Todd’s discarded gun and checking the barrel. There were two bullets still left.  _ I will be fine as long as I don’t miss.  _

“How did they find us?” Patton asked him anxiously, standing as well and watching Virgil help Roman sluggishly to his feet. 

Logan hesitated. That had been eating at him for a bit, but he didn’t know. “I- I’m not entirely sure about that, Patton,” he finally responded, turning to leave them before they could question him further. There would be time to figure everything out later. Maybe Ellie would know. 

“Hey,” Virgil said quietly, and Logan turned back to look at him. 

“Yes, Virgil?” he asked. 

“Be safe out there,” Virgil replied gruffly. 

Logan gave him a small smile and inclined his head in thanks. “Likewise.” 

As he walked away from his friends, dread twisted in his stomach.  _ They’ll be fine,  _ he told himself,  _ Roman will be fine.  _ Tears had dried on his face, and the cuts on his cheeks stung and smarted slightly where the saltiness had dripped into them. Logan was sure he looked like a mess, cut up and bruised and feeling like death itself was knocking on his front door. That was no matter now. He rolled his shoulders as he walked briskly down the long hallway of the Safehouse. 

This was the place he’d grown up in, the place he’d hacked into his first database in. This was the place he’d taken down a full grown man in for his first time, even if it was only Remy, and the first place he’d ever felt safe in. The wallpaper was peeling and the flowers in the vase at the end of the hallway changed weekly. He’d never found out how Ellie had done it. 

He’d spent hours in this hallway, running from his room to Ellie’s office and back again, stealing screwdrivers from the kitchen drawer and using them to unscrew the vent covers and crawling around in there all day. He’d walked down it every time he left on a mission, and it felt almost surreal to be walking back into the Safehouse to start this one. 

He started to feel the heat from the gym even before he had approached the door, and he swallowed once, checking his gun and pushing the door open with his foot, stepping inside quickly and surveying the situation. 

Lila and Isaac were both there, as he had predicted. They were standing on the track with their backs to him, staring at the person in the center of the track- no, the people. Isaac held twin balls of fire in his burnt and scarred hands, and Lila’s feet barely dusted the ground. Everything around them was on fire, everything that could burn. 

Remus stood over Janus’ body, breathing ragged and face set into a protective snarl. The fire cast strange lights over his face, and he was in a defensive stance, lower to the ground with his knees bent. His hair was in his face, the strangled green strands damp with sweat and plastered to his forehead. 

Logan took a moment to focus on Janus, and his heart leapt into his throat. The other boy was limp, his motionless form scattered with new scars and burns. In his unconscious state, his usual disguise had fallen, and his unscarred skin was dotted with vitiligo. It was a look that Logan had only seen on him a couple of times, and seeing it now filled him with dread. It meant that Janus wasn’t strong enough to keep himself conscious. 

“If you want to get to him, you’re going to have to go through me!” Remus shrieked, baring his teeth. 

“Oh, honey,” Lila said with a disappointed sigh, “We already went through you once. That’s why he’s unconscious in the first place. What makes you think that we wouldn’t be able to do it again?” 

“Shut up!” Remus growled. 

Lila just rolled her eyes, waving her hand. “Isaac, just… do whatever you need to. We need them both knocked out, not just the mouthy one.” 

Isaac raised his scarred hands, the flames in them expanding and travelling down his arms. They seemed to suck the moisture right out of the air. Fear flickered in Remus’ eyes, but he held his ground. 

_ Now. _

Logan raised the gun and very carefully took aim. He squeezed the trigger. 

The shot seemed to echo throughout the room. 

The effect was instantaneous. Isaac’s flames died out, shriveling in on themselves and shrinking into nothing. He stumbled forward, clutching at his chest. Between his fingers, red trickled, staining his skin and seeping through his shirt. 

Remus’ eyes were almost comically wide. Next to Isaac, Lila let out a small shriek of anger, wheeling around and meeting Logan’s eyes. “You!” she hissed. 

“Me,” he agreed quietly. The air around them was cooler now, though fires still burned. 

“Todd and Cassidy were supposed to dispose of you,” she said with a growl of her own. 

“Does it appear that they succeeded?” he asked her, deadpan. Lila was prideful to a fault, and easily angered. It would be best to draw her attention to him so as to allow Remus and Janus the opportunity to escape.

He was done letting people get hurt because of him. 

He spared Remus a glance, but the other boy’s eyes were no longer focused on him. He knelt next to Janus, arms flitting nervously around him, trying to find a good place to touch him. Tears stained his cheeks. His hair was singed at the ends. 

“I’ll kill you for that one,” Lila told him, her stormy blue eyes narrowing as she kicked off from the ground effortlessly. 

Logan shifted into a fighting stance. “I’d like to see you try,” he told her. 

She charged him, and in that moment, his feet seemed to cement to the ground, feeling almost as though they were suddenly filled with lead. Gritting his teeth and pushing against the expected influx of gravity, Logan pulled his fists up a little higher, around his nose. 

_ It’s fine, I just need to touch her and this will all be negated.  _

Lila was getting closer, feet barely skimming the ground, lighter and springier than she’d been only moments before. 

Logan braced himself, locking his back leg and deepening his stance slightly. 

Lila’s face split into a grin, she had only moments before reaching him now. Logan saw the glint of tears on her cheeks. 

_ Come and get me,  _ he thought, getting ready to take the brunt of a hit he probably wouldn’t be able to weather without serious damage.  _ If it has to happen to get Remus and Janus out of here, then so be it.  _

“Enough!” 

A deep voice rang through the room, the bark of an order that seemed to freeze Lila in place. Her fist stopped only inches from Logan’s face.

Logan blinked in surprise, feeling the pressure ease up on his legs as Lila’s powers died away on their own, and she took a step back from him. Her face was twitching with loathing. 

“I was content with simply watching before, but I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t kill my first success, Lila.” His voice was silky smooth, and tired with old age. Logan felt his blood run cold. 

_ No, it can’t be him. He would never risk himself by coming here. He wouldn’t… I’m just hearing things. It was so long ago, I must just not remember correctly.  _

Ian Bates stepped out of the shadows, smiling. It didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Long time no see, Logan.” The words sounded scripted, sticking to his tongue. 

Time had treated him kindly, for the most part. He wore square black frames of his own now, and his brown hair was only streaked with grey. He had no smile lines, though he did have one wrinkle, between his eyebrows. In his left hand, he clutched a cane, the same cane he’d clutched through most of Logan’s childhood. His knuckles were white. 

He shoved everything down, pushing it away from his body before it could paralyze him. Stumbling only slightly, he made his way over to Remus, keeping his eyes trained on the man in front of him, the man who had made his childhood a living hell. The man who  _ had to have been in the room all along because he didn’t come from the direction of the door. The man who let me shoot one of his men without so much as an objection.  _

There was a bitter taste in his mouth. 

His tongue felt too big for his mouth. The words slipped out, a scripted response, said so many times in his youth. “Hello, Sir.” 

Ian smiled at that, more genuine than before. Logan felt sick. “So he does remember me!” 

Remus was looking at him, Logan knew he was looking at him. His eyes bored into the side of his head. 

Ian shook his head, looking almost disbelieving. “It’s been so long, Logan, but I finally found you again!” He looked over at Lila, gesturing back at Logan. “I finally found them, Lila! I suppose you and Donna didn’t mess up, after all!”

“I can see that, Sir,” Lila replied, the barest layer of respect covering her disgust. Ian shot a look her way and she ducked her head. 

“What are you doing here?” Logan asked him through gritted teeth. He’d thought he’d broken himself from the habit, he hadn’t even lived with him for that long. He’d thought he was free from this horrible fear in his chest, this internal programming that screamed at him for even daring to talk back. 

Ian looked over at him, genuine surprise on his face. “Why, I needed you back, of course,” he responded. “Logan, you and Ellie mean the world to me.” 

Logan was already shaking his head. “We don’t mean anything to you,” he responded, words biting. He’d heard those words from Ellie, over and over and over. “We’re a means to an end, nothing more than an experiment.” 

Ian’s smile faltered, if only for a moment. “You’re wrong.” His voice dared Logan to rebut. 

Logan swallowed. “You are certainly entitled to that opinion, but I have facts to support the opposing claim,” he replied.

Ian looked angry now, his sea blue eyes muddy with irritation. “Logan, I want you and Elizabeth to come home with me without a fight.” He paused, considering. “And your new friends as well.” 

Logan shook his head, not trusting his voice. He’d been so young when he left, he’d thought Ian was nothing more than a faded memory, a skeleton in his closet. But here he stood, right in front of him. 

“Very well, I see you will leave me no choice,” Ian replied with a sigh. He waved his hand. “Lila, pin them, will you?” 

Logan felt his feet cement to the ground, his limbs once more filling with lead. Beside him, Remus stumbled, barely getting back to his feet before the gravity rooted him.  _ I’m getting real sick of this. _

His father was moving now, hands twisting on the top of his cane, eyes bored and disconnected from the situation. Logan knew that face. He was thinking.

“Perhaps you won’t come willingly, but maybe a little bit of an… incentive, let’s say, will help to draw you back in.” 

There was a sound like a knife sharpener, and Ian pulled a blade from the shell of his cane. 

“What?” Logan asked him, “You don’t prefer to use a gun? It’s much more efficient.” 

Ian scoffed at him. He still had that smile on his face, lips stretched just a little too wide. “Anyone can learn to use a gun, but it takes real skill to-”

“-wield a blade, yes, Father, if that isn’t something I’ve heard a million times.” 

Ellie stood in the doorway, her face unreadable. She walked towards them in quick strides, coming to a stop next to Logan and Remus and facing her father with contempt now clouding her features. “Of course, I was never as good with a blade as I am with a gun.” She gave them a brittle smile.

Logan couldn’t help but feel a rush of gratitude, a rush of  _ safety  _ at her presence.  _ She’s here. Ellie knows what to do. _

“Ellie,” Remus gasped out, his voice barely a whisper. He looked as relieved as Logan felt. 

“Elizabeth,” Ian said, looking her up and down, “You’ve grown.” 

“Yeah, Dad, fifteen years will do that to a person,” Ellie replied, her tone biting. There was a knife strapped to her, and her fingers drifted towards it as the two of them spoke. Logan slipped the gun out of his waistband and into his hands, keeping everything behind his back and out of his father’s sight.

“I’ve been trying to keep tabs on you, but it’s just been so long since we’ve been together as a family,” Ian told her, “You, me, and-”

“That’s enough of that,” Ellie cut him off, taking the gun with deft fingers, slipping it into her own pocket. “We were never a family. You have no family.”

Ian quirked an eyebrow. “Those are fighting words, Elizabeth,” he replied, tone warning. Logan’s skin crawled.

Ellie held her head a little higher, a mix of pride and defiance. “I’m not afraid of you anymore,” she replied. 

That made him pause. His face twisted into a disdainful frown. It looked so much more authentic than his smile. “Maybe not, but you still have so much to prove.” 

Ellie let out a snarl, unsheathing her knife and running at him. 

“Lila!” he barked out, and the other woman was there in a flash, knocking Ellie’s hand away. 

As the two of them began to fight, Logan inched to Remus and Janus. Ian was standing off to the side of the fight, arms clasped behind his back as he examined his daughter’s fight. Logan had watched him do this every day for years. He felt sick to his stomach.

That wasn’t important right now. “Is Janus okay?” He asked Remus quietly, trying not to draw attention to the two of them.  _ Ellie can handle herself,  _ he reminded himself.  _ She’s been doing it for years. Right now Janus is hurt. You need to help Janus. _

Remus bit his lip. “He won’t wake up.” His voice wavered. “I’m worried.” 

Logan nodded slowly. “We need to get him out of here,” he replied quietly, “Ellie can handle Lila, but I don’t know how-“

“What, sneaking off so soon?” Ian interrupted them, refocusing his attention on them and stepping closer with a grin on his face. “But we’re finally back together again, all three of us. And you have no idea how much I need you.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” Logan replied icily, eyeing the idle blade in Ian’s hand with wariness. 

“Enough playing around, Logan, you and your friends are coming with me,” Ian snapped then, and Logan flinched.  _ Shit.  _

“No.” He stepped in front of Janus and Remus. “I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.” 

Ian raised the sword. It hovered in front of his face, unshaking. Logan stared into the deadly blue eyes in front of his own, the eyes of the man who had turned his life into a living hell, and he snarled at him.

Ian looked unimpressed. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” 

“Thanks, but I’d rather lose my tongue than go anywhere with you.” 

“Oh don’t worry,” Ian replied, “that can be arranged.” 

And then he thrust the sword forward. 

Logan jumped to the right, knocking the thin blade away from him back with his knuckles and just hoping that Remus had the common sense to back away as well. Knowing the other boy, he probably didn’t.

“Oh, Logan,” Ian said with a sigh, “why is everything always harder than it needs to be with you?”

The only thing that kept him alive was his speed, for sure. With nothing to retaliate with, he was forced to keep his distance from the potentially deadly blade and simply use himself as bait, backing Ian away from Remus and Janus and hopefully giving them a chance to escape. He spared them a glance. They weren’t moving, and Remus had a mix between worried and horrified on his face.

“Get out of here, now!” he ordered, trying to ignore how much he sounded like Ian in that moment. 

Remus blinked at his tone. “Not without you!”

“I’ll be fine!” Logan shot back, ducking another particularly viscious swipe from Ian’s blade. 

There was a gunshot. In the corner of his vision, Lila crumpled to the floor. 

Stumbling over nothing in his surprise, Logan felt his back hit the wall with a  _ thumk,  _ arms bracing himself against the still warm stone _.  _ “Shit!” he hissed, coming eye to eye with Ian’s blade. It pressed against the tip of his nose gently. 

“I wouldn’t try to move if I were you,” the deranged looking man advised, sharp blue eyes glinting with adrenaline. “I’ve had a very hard day and you are at the crux of almost all of my issues.”

“To be sure,” Logan replied dryly. 

“You know,” Ian continued thoughtfully, “We need you for your brain, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you would need your eyes…” his blade drifted up slightly, and Logan sucked in a breath, doing everything he could to stay completely motionless. “Or maybe something else…” Ian continued tauntingly, blade now drifting lower, past his nose. “You have been awfully mouthy today. I would usually just train it out of you, but something tells me that you would be particularly hard to break again.” He smiled, looking chillingly familiar for a moment. “I think we both know a simpler solution, mmh?” 

Logan braced himself, locking his mouth shut and staring him down. He didn’t trust himself to speak. 

“What, no final words?” Ian laughed humorlessly. “Ah, it’s not that bad. You’ll still be able to communicate through writing, at least. Or maybe you can learn sign language. We’ll figure something out.” 

Logan closed his eyes. Ian moved his blade ever so slightly, preparing to attempt to remove his tongue. Most likely he would know exactly what angle to puncture him in order to do so, he was technically a doctor Or perhaps he was just going to hack at him with reckless abandon, doing as much damage as he could without killing him. He wasn’t sure. 

He felt a harsh shove and he stumbled, feeling his hands scuff against the track as he caught himself.

There was a quick  _ shrink  _ and a tiny gasp. Logan turned around, his own eyes widening at the sight. Across the room, Remus seemed to freeze.

Ellie stood between him and her father, swaying softly on her feet. 

“Ellie?” Logan whispered, dread flooding his stomach. 

Slowly, she turned to face them, arms shaking as she raised them to her throat. Even as Logan watched, the thin, red line at the base of her neck beaded with redness, and blood seemed to cascade down her neck. 

_ No.  _

Logan brought his hands to his mouth, slowly, shakily. Ellie looked so remorseful in that moment, eyes glistening with tears.

_ No no no.  _

“Oh Elizabeth,” her father said, his voice dripping with disappointment even as Ellie trembled like a leaf before them, eyes wide and locked on Logan’s. 

_ No, this isn’t happening.  _

Ian looked disgusted, completely unfazed. “You didn’t  _ really  _ think you could keep your little brother and his friends hidden from me forever, did you?” 

Logan felt his breath catch in his throat as he forgot to breathe. 

Ellie sunk to her knees with a jolt, glassy blue eyes now level with his own, blood dripping like a fountain. The red smudged where she clutched at it, staining her hands and her arms. 

Ellie’s father,  _ his father,  _ looked down at her with distaste. “You were never fit to call yourself my daughter,” he spit out. 

Ellie was mouthing something at him. It looked like  _ I love you.  _

Someone was screaming. It wasn’t until he had to stop to take a shaky breath that Logan realized it was him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so. Thoughts?
> 
> Nothing but an epilogue to finish up guys, you've all been so amazing and I love you so much and if you've read anything else by me you know I'll gush over the final chapter, but I'd just like to say a little thank you for clicking on my story and kudosing and commenting, it's meant the world. <3


	22. Patton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought we were headed straight to the epilogue? Me too tbh. Nope, instead I literally wrote another entire chapter from Patton's perspective (occuring in tandem with the last chapter actually!) and so here it is! I don't know how it happened other than I wanted to write something a little itty bit more lighthearted after all that but also bring us back around to a nice place to "start" the epilogue. Enjoy!

They managed to get Roman outside of the building fairly easily, helping support him up the steps and out the doorway. Patton set him down gently on the grass, outside of the library. 

“Thanks,” Roman muttered, eyes slipping shut again. 

“Does it hurt too terribly?” Patton asked him, sinking to sit down on his haunches and looking the other boy over with worried eyes. 

Roman tossed his head back to clear his bangs from his face. “The pain fades in and out.” 

“How’d you do it?” Virgil asked him, sinking down to their level as well. It hadn’t been until they’d all taken a moment to stop that the three of them realized just how drained they were. “You’re supposed to be indestructible. Did you aim for the bullet or something?”

Roman snorted at that, and Patton joined him with a giggle of his own. Eventually, Virgil couldn’t help but grin sheepishly. 

“Nearly indestructible. No, I didn’t aim for the bullet, it was just…” Roman trailed off. Patton shot him a sympathetic look. “Logan was there, and all I could think about was that Logan was about to get hurt and there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn’t live with myself if anything had happened to him.” 

“I understand that,” Virgil replied. He leaned backwards until he felt himself hit the ground, blades of grass poking at the back of his exposed neck and dancing in the soft breeze. It was starting to darken, and stars peeked out from behind the clouds, just starting to become visible. The moon hung in the sky, bright and full. It was chilly for a summer night. 

Patton just grinned, flopping down next to Virgil. He knew they were stressed, he’d been feeling the results of their stress for days, even months now. But now? He just felt overwhelming relief from each and every one of them. Relief that they were safe, relief that they’d gotten out, relief that they were together and happy and in (for the most part) one piece. 

“I can’t believe we just did that,” he whispered into the open air. 

Virgil cocked a grin at him. “What? Knocked a blind woman over the top of the head with a frying pan? Or was it the part where I practically echolocated so I could stop a supersoldier without the use of my sight? Or perhaps were you referring to Roman taking a literal bullet for the boy he met three months ago?” 

  
“All of it,” Patton whispered breathlessly. “That and that we finally found out why we are the way we are. We know the consequences that we avoided. We made new friends. We found ourselves and each other along the way.”

Virgil threaded his slender fingers through Patton’s. They were surprisingly warm. 

“Wow, you guys are so sweet you’ll give me a cavity,” Roman commented from where he was sitting propped up on the grass. “I can’t imagine you actually lasted this long without dating, there’s no way.” 

Patton just blushed sheepishly. “Well, we had a couple of mishaps along the way.” 

Virgil just rolled his eyes fondly. “Patton spent a lot of time pushing me at other people.” 

“I was nervous, okay?” Patton defended himself, covering his now burning face. “I thought you didn’t like me like that!” 

“Patton,” Roman replied with a giggle, “You literally read people’s emotions! That’s like your whole thing!”

“I can’t tell the difference between platonic and romantic love!” Patton spluttered, “I can only read how deep the emotion runs, not the cause of it!” 

“Oh, and I bet he wanted to love you  _ real  _ deeply, hmm?” 

“Alright you guys,” Virgil cut in. “Remus isn’t here so let’s act like it, okay? Roman, stop making that face at Patton.” 

“Thank you, Virgil.” Patton gave him a small, relieved smile. His face felt like it was permanently tinted pink at this point. 

Roman just let out a small huff. “Of the three of us, I’m the only one who’s at risk of bleeding out. I think I should be granted a free pass to say whatever I see fit.” 

“You took a bullet for Logan, not for me,” Virgil replied. “I don’t owe you shit.” 

Roman made a face at him, followed by an obscene gesture. 

“Classy, Roman, real classy.” He rolled his eyes, but he was smirking. Next to him, Patton shifted slightly, grinning despite himself. None of them spoke for a moment. It was peaceful. 

There was the sound of grass crunching nearby. Virgil shot up like a rocket. “What was that?” he asked the other two quietly. 

“What was what?” Patton uncovered his face. 

“Shh!” Virgil got to his feet, standing in front of Roman and Patton, between them and the noise. “Who’s there?” 

“It’s just me.” 

Virgil’s eyes widened as he recognized the voice. “Ellie!” 

She stepped out of the shadows of the night, a small frown on her face. As she got closer, the frown deepened. “Why are you outside?” She sounded wary.

“We can explain-” Patton jumped to his feet, but her eyes were already focused on Roman and the blood oozing through his makeshift bandage. Her sharp blue eyes widened. 

  
“What happened to you?” 

Patton told her everything, as quickly as he could. When he found himself rambling, focusing on tiny details, Virgil’s hand slipped into his own, and he backtracked. Finally, he’d given her the rundown. 

“And Logan’s still in there?” Ellie sounded fearful. “With Lila and Isaac and-” 

“He went to get Remus and Janus,” Virgil said. “We offered to go with him, but he refused. Told us to look after Roman.” 

Ellie smiled a little, but it looked too nervous to reassure him. “Good. You should stay here. You’ve done more than enough. I’m going after him.” 

“Wait!” Patton cried out desperately, grabbing at her arm. “What should we do?” 

She looked at him, offering him another small smile. It didn’t look any more genuine than her first. “Well, if it’s just Lila and Isaac in there, you should wait until we finish disposing of them and then we can all assess the situation from there. Just in case things go south…” She frowned to herself, “You need to get out of here. There’s a car parked three blocks down, you get in it with Roman and you drive until you can’t drive anymore. You find somewhere safe.” 

“How will we know if things go south though?” Patton asked her nervously. 

She looked at him and smiled, genuine and sad. “ _ You’ll _ know,” she replied softly. “Just promise me you’ll do everything you can to keep Logan and the others safe.” 

Patton nodded, biting his lip nervously. He wasn’t quite sure what she meant. 

“Thank you guys,” she said to the three of them, “for trusting me. I know I didn’t make it easy for you.” Her eyes glinted in the low light, filled with remorse and determination and a touch of anxiety. 

“Of course,” Roman replied. 

Virgil just nodded. 

“How did they find us?” Patton asked into the air as she walked off, opening the door to the library. Visible smoke was already rising from the building. 

“I’m not quite sure, but if I had to guess, it starts with a J and ends with an -anus,” Roman replied. 

Virgil snickered for a second. “Remus would have a field day with that,” he replied. 

“Yeah, well, he’s not here so someone’s got to do it, right?” Roman asked them with a cheeky grin. 

“He’d be so proud,” Virgil replied, clasping his hands together sarcastically. 

Patton just bit his lip. “I’m worried about him. And Janus and Logan too.” 

“Me too, Pat,” Virgil replied, sobering up a little. 

“We all are,” Roman agreed. 

_ I know,  _ Patton thought. He could feel it practically radiating off of them. They were taut as wires, each as touchy as a grenade. One wrong move could snap them. 

Roman frowned. “Guys, they’re gonna be fine,” he said, only half sounding like he believed it. “Come on, we know them. They’ve got Ellie now.”

“Right, right,” Virgil muttered. He ran his fingers along the bruise forming on his jawline and bit his lip in pain. 

Patton swatted his fingers away, ignoring the pain blossoming in his own arms. “Stop it,” he chided him lightly. “You know better.” 

“It looks worse than it is,” Virgil protested. “I bruise easily.”

“Yeah, you’re a real peach,” Roman muttered, and Virgil raised an arm to swat him before putting it back down guilily. It was probably for the best not to hit the man who just took a bullet to the shoulder. 

A sense of unease fell over him, a sense of unease that seemed strangely detached from the situation and the people in front of him. Patton frowned. Something was wrong. 

“Pat?” Virgil asked him a heartbeat later, eyes assessing his expression. Virgil always knew him so well. “Talk to me.” 

“You guys aren’t-” Patton bit his lip. “That isn’t you, right?” He wrung his hands nervously. 

“I- no.” Virgil shook his hair. “Who are you sensing?” 

“I think things went south,” Patton whispered, and then the dam broke. 

Patton felt sadness every day. Sadness was a normal part of life, no matter how he liked to deny it. Pain was normal, one could even make the claim that it was required. 

But this? This was like  _ nothing  _ he’d ever felt. 

This wasn’t some failed test, some unrequited crush. This was the pain of losing something you never knew was right in front of you, the pain of watching everything you cared about slip through your fingers and not know what to do to stop it. 

This was  _ crushing.  _

Patton let out a muffled scream of his own, sinking to his knees and curling in on himself, biting his lip to keep from crying out as tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.

Next to him, Virgil made a noise of alarm. He was at Patton’s level in an instant. “What is it?” He gasped out, hands flirting nervously over him, afraid to touch but afraid to not, “What is it, Pat?” 

Patton looked up at him, his eyes shining and watering as the first tears poured down his cheeks. “It’s-” his voice broke. “It’s Logan. All I c-can feel is Logan.” 

Another emotion hit him; cold, hardened fury. It boiled and festered in the pit of his stomach and fed on the sadness, sucking it up until there was nothing left to feel at all. Whimpering to himself, Patton curled into a ball. 

_ It’s not real, it’s not real, you don’t feel this, it’s not real.  _

“Patton, what do we do?” Virgil asked him, absolutely vibrating with worry. 

“Logan- I,” Patton gasped a little bit and curled further in on himself, “I need to get to Logan.” 

Virgil and Roman exchanged nervous looks. “We need to get you to the car,” Virgil said in response. “Come on.” 

He didn’t know how long it lasted, didn’t know how long he sat inside the van with his head pressed against the back of the seats in front of him, trying to breathe properly. He didn’t even see Virgil leave. When he came back he was carrying Janus’ form in his arms. Logan was with Remus, eyes dull and emotions roaring. Remus sat him down next to Patton and then slid in with the two of them, and closed the door. 

Logan’s arm brushed his, and the emotions seemed to pull back in an instant, revealing nothing except for him and his tiny insignificant. The rush of silence, the rush of nothing, settled in. He felt his eyes tear up from the sheer relief of it all, holding Logan’s arm to himself and squeezing it a little bit. 

“Everyone okay back there?” Remus asked, from where he sat in the driver’s seat. From shotgun, Roman leaned back as well, wincing as his wound moved. 

Patton nodded at him with a little sniffle. “All good here,” he whispered. 

Virgil looked him and Logan over. “I’m fine. Janus is in the trunk.” 

None of them expected a third response. 

  
Logan sounded tired, voice weary and dull. “I will be- I  _ am _ adequate. Drive.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, I'd just like to say thank you again. Ellie was never really supposed to be a part of this story. Actually, I don't remember if I mentioned this, but Ian was supposed to be the one who "kidnapped" them to begin with, which was why the summary was a bit off for a bit before I remembered to change it. I had to scrap the idea when I remembered Patton's powers would see right through Ian, so Ellie's character was born. She was someone I wanted no one reading this to trust right off the bat, someone that could "take the fall" I never wanted any of our main six to end up taking, and someone who I could give some snarky dialogue and a nice angsty backstory to. I wanted someone I could tie to Logan, someone to make his character seem a bit more human. Over time, I didn't expect I'd get so attached to her. Most of her interactions with Logan were based on me and my younger brother, so that was a major stab to the heart for me to then go through with what I'd wanted to do so badly before. Rest assured, she may be gone for now, but that isn't saying you'll never see her again. 
> 
> In fact, (fun fact time lol) in all of my human!sides stories, Logan always has an Ellie, if not always by name. In Evermore, his half sister from Canada is Ellie. In my Punk!Logan Au, his mother's name is Ellie. In My Boo, Logan makes reference to his "late sister" who is the equivalent of Ellie in that universe. :)
> 
> TYSM for reading and commenting you guys are all amazing and I'll see you for the epilogue <3


	23. Logan (Epilogue)

Remus got him out of it. Remus was, quite frankly, the only reason that any of the three of them got out of it. Pulling Logan’s limp body along with him, he’d dragged the both of them out of the wreck of what once was Logan’s childhood home. Virgil had carried Janus. They hadn’t even looked back. He wasn’t sure if he’d wanted to or not.

Initially, Logan wasn’t sure why Ian hadn’t tried to stop them. It wasn’t until much later that Remus told him why he didn’t. 

“You beat the shit out of him, dude,” Remus told him softly one day, looking a little nervous. “He tried to fight back, but it was like you just couldn’t stop yourself. You grabbed the sword, and-” he swallowed nervously. “-and you stabbed him. Over and over. I had to stop you. You left it in his leg.” 

Logan had frowned and nodded. He didn’t feel guilty about it in the slightest, which was the worst part. 

He had faint memories of that night. Sometimes, while he dreamt, figures crumpled to the ground, motionless apart from the thick blood gushing around them. Their glassy eyes stared into his own and begged him to help without words. Sometimes the figures in his dreams screamed and pleaded for their lives, sounding a little too close to his father’s voice for comfort. He smiled grimly night after night and ran them through over and over until their screams mixed with his own and he woke up in a cold sweat. More than once he had to run to the bathroom and vomit, hacking up whatever food he’d managed to stomach at dinner so that Roman and Remus and their parents continued to think that he was okay, that he was recovering. 

He was staying with the Princes, something that he hadn’t known was happening until the six of them went their separate ways and Remus and Roman took him with them. Patton and Virgil ordered an Uber. They tipped well. The guy seemed relieved to get them out of his car. 

“College is starting soon,” he had protested when Roman offered that he stay with them. “You don’t want me. No one wants me.”

“No, I definitely want you,” Roman had argued back, voice soft and eyes shining with tears he would shed only moments later. “I don’t care what you think I want, I’m telling you that I want you.”

“Besides, school is only forty minutes south of here,” Remus had added on. “The two of us can just commute. We were going to share a dorm anyway.”

That didn’t make him feel any less guilty about staying with the Princes. 

The Princes were too nice to him. Remus and Roman explained to their parents that he was just like them, and their parents had welcomed him with open arms. It left a bitter taste in his mouth. They were so willing to take him under their roof. He wished he’d had a childhood. 

The Safehouse had burnt down shortly after they had driven away. It was all over the news. Apparently, it’s a bit uncommon for a building to just go up in flames like that. They blamed the fire on cigarette butts and irresponsible teenagers. Logan ground his teeth together until they hurt. Roman turned the TV off and held him until he drifted off to sleep. 

Patton and Virgil had never turned the oven off. 

Healing was slow going, and never perfect. He had a long way to go and he liked to make things harder on himself than they needed to be. He couldn’t keep the guilt from seeping into his bones, from gathering it up inside of himself and just wallowing in it. Every now and then Roman wrung him out like a wet towel, making sure to establish just how little of Ellie’s “condition” was his fault. He hated that Roman referred to it as a condition. Death wasn’t a condition. At the Prince’s request, he started therapy. It helped. 

Janus split from the group without saying goodbye. He had to be taken to the hospital for the burns on his arms and legs, and while Remus checked him in and stayed with him every night, Janus snuck away while everyone else was asleep. It checked out that powers meant to mimic would aid him in escaping without detection. Logan was secretly glad that he’d left without saying goodbye. He wasn’t sure what he would say to the other boy if he had the choice. He told his therapist as much. 

Remus took up pottery. He presented Logan with several misshapen pots and bowls before he got the hang of it. Logan lined them all up in a row across the desk in the Prince’s guest room, even the one with crude genitalia carved into the sides. Roman called him a sentimental old sap and kissed him when he saw them. Apparently, this was the first time anyone had accepted any of his brother’s more… experimental work. Remus sat in the corner and made barfing noises while they kissed on his bedsheets. Roman smelled like strawberries. 

Virgil and Patton went back to their tiny apartment. They lived closer to the Princes than you would expect, and they visited when they could. They slept in the same bed now, but never without a nightlight. Virgil still did all of the cooking and Patton did all of the cleaning. They lived in a tiny bubble of domestic bliss. They were seeing a different therapist than Logan was. 

He started working at a nearby grocery store. It paid $9.50 an hour. It was mind numbing and wholly unimportant. He loved every second of it. At his own request, he began to pay rent to the Princes. It eased some of his guilt. 

Things didn’t really change for him until a couple of months later. It was October, and the chill of the autumn air made him tuck his hands further into the oversized sleeves of Roman’s coat. He was determined to walk home from the grocery store every day, even with the colder weather. He didn’t admit that it was because he didn’t want to get back into his car. He was pretty sure Roman and Remus knew that anyway. 

The walk home was easy enough, anyway. The sidewalk was cracked and broken and worn, but the house was only a few blocks away. Trees and bushes lined one side of the street, and the road to the other side wasn’t major, so he rarely had to worry about cars speeding by. It wasn’t a bad walk by any means, and it gave him some time to just relax and look around at everything nearby. He made a point to keep his mind focused on his surroundings. 

There were two point three bushes for every tree by the road. The sidewalk was an off white, an alabaster shade. Lighter objects had a higher albedo. The trees were deciduous trees, and as a result had started losing their leaves, the green cover shriveling into shades of red and orange. They crunched under his feet as he shuffled home, curled in on himself slightly against the wind. 

The wind had just picked up when he heard it. There was a desperate crying coming from under one of the bushes to his left. Logan stopped as soon as he heard the quiet cries, immediately stooping down and coming face to face with the smallest creature he had ever seen up close.

The crying tapered out as he stared at it. A tiny kitten sat huddled against the trunk of the bush, shivering in the cold and gazing up at him with big fearful eyes. 

“Oh,” Logan whispered quietly. Immediately he slipped his coat off, ignoring the way goosebumps rose on his skin and setting it on the ground next to the bush. “Hello.”

The tabby kitten didn’t move. She just kept staring at him with those same big, blue eyes. 

He named her October. He knew it wasn’t the most creative, but then again, that was never really his area of expertise. When he’d busted through the front door, teeth chattering and swaddling this tiny animal in his coat, the first thing the Princes had done was get her taken to the vet. She didn’t belong to anyone, which meant that she belonged to Logan now. 

October was clingy, demanding, loud, and liked to curl up on his chest when he was trying to fall asleep. That last one would be considered cute, except for the fact that she too usually ended up falling asleep, and then slid down onto his neck as she drifted off. He sat there and let it happen. Remus called him a sucker. He didn’t deny it. 

October helped him focus on looking after something, making sure something was okay. She quickly became the most spoiled of kittens, as Logan spent a majority of his remaining income on fancy treats and toys for her. He insisted that she liked certain brands better, even after Roman pointed out that those brands were always the most expensive. 

Sometimes, she would follow him around the house, trotting at his heels and letting out hopeful little chirps whenever anyone got too close to wherever he stashed her treats. 

Roman was happier to see that Logan seemed genuinely happier these days, even if he had to compete with the small kitten for his love’s affection now. However, to call it a competition would almost be too dramatic. More often than not the three of them fell asleep late at night, huddled together in front of the TV. Remus just rolled his eyes and smirked at them. 

Remus did a lot of rolling his eyes and smirking these days. He’d bleached his hair again but not dyed it quite yet. Logan was pretty sure it was because it reminded him of Janus. He played with the blonde strands at dinner and while he painted and when he was deep in thought. Patton braided them once, a bunch of tiny little braids that looked ridiculous but Remus absolutely adored. 

Logan and Roman went on their first date in November. They went to some old, run down movie theatre and watched a movie that Roman had already seen and Logan had no interest in seeing. The popcorn was stale and they held hands the entire time. Logan still flinched a bit when the screaming started. Roman pretended not to notice. When it was over, Roman kissed him and he nearly cried. It was perfect. 

Virgil took him to his school’s track a week later, promising to go easy on him. The cold kept most (sane) people away. Logan ran until his lungs burnt and he couldn’t think about anything at all anymore. Virgil ruffled his hair and slowed down to his pace. 

They ended up talking about Virgil’s school after the run. They sat on the bleachers even though the metal was almost painfully cold and talked about everything and nothing all at once. They skated around what Logan wanted to skate around and focused on pleasant topics. It was peaceful.

As December started, Patton dragged him over to the dorm to help him make cookies for everyone, protesting that Virgil was out but he wanted to make cookies to prepare for the season. 

“It’s going to be so fun!” Patton had promised him, practically bouncing with excitement. “I can’t believe you’ve never tried to make cookies before! You’ll love it!” 

“I have baked before, Patton,” Logan had pointed out with a small smile. “I don’t believe that this can be that much different.” 

They burnt every single one of them. Two hours later Virgil came back to a slightly embarrassed Patton and an utterly bemused Logan. He laughed and helped them with their next batch. 

Remus wanted to take Logan axe throwing. He’d apparently always wanted to go axe throwing, but now he was old enough to go without parental permission, and he’d sized Logan up as the easiest to beat. Clearly he’d learned nothing. 

Logan absolutely crushed him. He didn’t think he’d laughed that freely in a while. 

Over time he learned not to forget his pain, but to not let it consume him. It was an adjustment, for sure, but the people close to him refused to let him blame himself. They didn’t always know how to help, but they did their best. Over time, as his physical wounds healed and closed up, the wound inside of him scabbed over a little. 

He still woke up in a cold sweat sometimes, still felt his heart start to beat out of his chest whenever he heard a shout or a gunshot or the sound of crackling fire. He still jumped at unidentifiable noises sometimes, but he started to tell Roman about it. He put aside what he couldn’t cope with right then and started working through the rest. 

He finally accepted that Ellie was gone for good. 

\-----

Deft fingers skipped along a prone form, following the scarring on the body before them. There was a small hum, a mix between approval and excitement. The fingers retreated, tapping frantically on the table next to them. 

“You did a good job. And she’s all mine?”

“Seeing as Ian Bates has been disposed of, we decided that this was the next best course of action. Yes, she’s all yours.”

A delighted clapping filled the air. “Goody! I just love new toys!”

There was a small sigh. “Be careful with this one, will you? We barely managed to recover her in one piece. It’s taken us this long just to get her stable again. It would be such a shame if you were to break her after all of our hard work to keep her alive.” 

“Oh, pish posh, you all worry too much. It’ll be fine.”

“Marion!” The other voice snapped, “Focus. We’re counting on you.” 

Marion pouted at that. “You guys never let me do anything before. Trust me, I’ve got this! Have I ever failed Rise?” 

“I suppose that will be determined by whether or not you’re able to bring our youngest experiments back to us or not.” 

Marion’s face split into a massive grin. Her green eyes glinted in the low light. “Tell me, Henry, do you want them back alive or dead?” 

Henry sighed, straightening his white lab coat and giving her a chastising glare. “We no longer have an urgent need for them alive. Use your professional discretion.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I literally have like no words. Just... thank you so much. You've all been so incredible and I really can't say thank you enough. To everyone who commented, kudosed, or literally just clicked on the story to read through it, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Sure, I do the writing for the sake of the writing, but you all really make it worth it. Each and every one of you has kept me going on this, pushing out chapters and plugging away hunched over my ancient computer and honestly I love you guys so much. So thank you, for being the most amazing readers I could ask for. <3
> 
> That all being said, there was a tiny teaser at the end of this! To answer any questions about that, yes, this will be getting a sequel and yes it is already partially planned out. There may be a slight gap (maybe a month at most maybe a week if inspiration slaps me in the face) but I absolutely have a second, happier ending sequel planned already! So if you want, stick around, and if it's not your jam, thank you for your time. I hope you all are having a lovely day, and that the new Asides treated you well. :)


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